Wanderlust
by Raider-K
Summary: Legolas. Bookish, quiet, repressed. He's the oh-so perfect prince of Mirkwood, always ready to do his father's bidding, but all that changes when Legolas catches a desperate case of 'Wanderlust.' This is THE story of how the prince goes from "zero to hero." Pre-LotR/Hobbit. Legolas/OC.
1. Wanderlust

_Wanderlust_

Legolas wondered for the thousandth time if he was possibly the most repressed, boring ellon in Middle Earth. He never did anything but what his father wanted, and truth be told he was usually happy to do so. He was the oldest son and understood the responsibilities that came with the title of crown prince. After all, the idea of duty had been pounded into his psyche since birth.

And now he sat in the king's study balancing ledgers for the annual trade reports. As a young ellon, he had been extremely flattered when his tutor had recommended him to his father for such an important responsibility. Only now after years of doing so, the task began to grate on Legolas' nerves. He would much rather be practicing his archery, truth be told, than tabulating endless streams of numbers and balancing figures. He had to take every single one of the local merchants' reports and not only check their reports for inaccuracies, but also calculate taxes due to the king and then add their numbers to the royal ledger. It was a supremely boring job and a thankless one at that. Legolas knew his father appreciated his contributions, but he seldom felt any genuine gratitude for his endeavors. His father just expected him to do it and to do it right.

Legolas had spent his whole life doing what was expected, doing what was right.

He sighed and carefully pushed his long blonde hair over his shoulder before starting on the next report, an income report from one of the outlying vineyards. The first page looked appropriate, written neatly with careful rows and columns, but when he flipped to the following page, Legolas sputtered.

This was no annual report on his desk, but rather some kind of manuscript, written in long flowing elvish script. Intrigued, the prince began to read.

_Wanderlust. I feel it keenly in the air I breathe, in the sound of the water rushing by the fields, deep in my bones when I rise in the morning. Oh, to be an ellon to join the forest guard, traveling to the ends of the forest, to lands far and unknown! To ride unfettered, flying, face in the wind, gusted by exhilaration, surfeited by every imagined desire unleashed. _

_Free._

_What unknown lands lie beyond the horizon, past the gentle curling vines of my father's estate? I long to see gnarled forests, dark and deep, to gaze on the unbroken line of the sea, and hear the hectic crash of waves against towering cliffs. What must the sea gulls' call sound like? For now, only in wandering dreams may I follow the cool river running beyond these borders to the unknown, and I must bear my waking hours shouldering the burden of expectations…_

The script stopped at the bottom of the page. Legolas quickly flipped to the next page of the report, but alas, there were only more columns of numbers. He flipped back to the manuscript and quickly reread the passage. What must it be like to have that sort of passion and longing for adventure? Legolas could only imagine; his life consisted of palace walls, formal dances, and the occasional trip into Dale with his father's entourage. The only adventures he experienced were in his father's library.

He heard his father's voice down the hall. Quickly, he pulled the manuscript page free and stuffed it in his tunic right before Thranduil appeared in the door.

"Still working on those ledgers, Legolas? I would have thought you would have finished by now and be off to the archery fields," Thranduil said, eyeing the pile of incomplete work still on his son's desk.

"Yes, adar," Legolas replied, with an inward groan, "but we have ten more vendors and merchants than last year; this past season has been extremely lucrative for most of our farmers and craftsmen. Good business always meant hefty ledgers.

"Has everything seemed to be in order then?" Thranduil enquired, picking up the last report Legolas had read. For all intents and purposes, any outsider might have mistaken the king and the prince for brothers; Legolas was practically the mirror image of his father. Both had been blessed with the same white golden hair, deep blue eyes, finely chiseled cheeks, and strong jaw. When Legolas looked at his father the king, however, all he saw was strength, and in himself only weakness. His father was the sum of practically everything he admired: grace, boldness, and a warrior spirit at which Legolas' quiet bookish self could only marvel.

He thought of the manuscript stuffed deep in his tunic_. Wanderlust_. If Legolas never felt it before, he felt the inexplicable need to escape now like a burning river of miruvor coursing through his every vein. He just could not take looking at another dreaded ledger.

He spoke quickly. "Actually, ada," he said and reached for the last report, "there seems to be some numbers that do not add up for this new vineyard, but they are a new addition, so perhaps we should simply excuse them from this years' collection.

"No, no, Legolas," Thranduil interrupted, displeased at the very idea of overt leniency being shown for incompetency. "If they have made a mistake in their ledgers, then it is your responsibility to see it fixed and the correct amount of coin collected."

Legolas inwardly smirked, but carefully replied, "I just might have to travel down to this vineyard to straighten out the confusion…show them how to do their ledgers properly."

"Well, see that you do, son," Thranduil affirmed. "A good ruler has a right to expect consistency from his subjects and be consistent in return," and with that said, the king turned and left the room, much to Legolas' unending relief.

He could scarcely believe his good fortune and what he had just gotten his father to agree to—a chance to leave the palace, ledgers, dinners, and drowningly dull conversations far behind. He slammed the royal collections ledger shut with a vengeance and pulled the crumpled parchment from his tunic. The words seemed born of his own darkest, unspoken wishes:

_Wanderlust…To ride unfettered, flying, face in the wind…_

Less than a second later, the prince was out the door, bounding down the hall. He would leave tonight. Alone. Free.

Finally.


	2. Silhouettes

A BIG thank you to my first reviewers!

Trollalala—Welcome back! I am so glad to have you reading this story. I miss all my old reviewers from _Building Ithilien_, so I am a thousand-times happy to see you find my new story.

Arwegornandfeowyn—First, let me say that your name cracks me up! And I loved and appreciated your reviews for _Building Ithilien_. It made me feel like I was getting to experience the story all over again with a fresh perspective.

So, the Legolas in this story, as you can see, is in a very different place emotionally than the mature, battle-hardened Legolas of _Building Ithilien_. It's a completely different story line.

_Wanderlust_

Chapter 2: Silhouettes

Legolas arrived at the vineyard Faendol just as the sun was sinking low behind the dark silhouettes of the forest behind him. Before him set gently curving fields with bright green vines and star white blossoms against the deep red of the soil. Even the air felt fresher, brighter, out here, Legolas reflected, and his heart gladdened at the sight of all the open land before him, and the clean-cut lines of the elven manor house against a shady copse. In the distance he could see several workers carefully pruning the vines, and for just a moment Legolas wondered what it must be like to have that kind of life, _not_ to be the prince of Mirkwood.

Pushing the thought aside, Legolas made his way to the front door of the main house, and rapped politely on the front door, which was framed by cascading blossom on bookend style urns.

The door opened to reveal an elleth with an ink-stained work apron standing before him with a hand on one hip. She tilted her head in surprise—clearly he was not whom she expected.

"Greetings," Legolas began politely. "I am here on behalf of the king to discuss your yearly ledger. Is Belchuil here?"

"Oh!" she startled. "My father and his head vintner just left the day before yesterday to take the south field casks down to Estodell for the market days. "

Legolas' face must have shown his disappointment at having his holiday cut short, for she quickly added, "But if it is the ledger you wish to address, I would be happy to be of assistance. I regularly help my father with his accounts."

Legolas studied her for a second. She was a hand shorter than he, with wide innocent eyes, darkened by a generous fringe of thick lashes. She seemed earnest enough, and if she helped her father with the books as she claimed then perhaps she was the one who wrote the manuscript he found!

"That sounds agreeable" he began to say, but was interrupted by a markedly older lady coming to stand behind the maiden.

"Thaliniel, who is our guest, and will you not show him inside?" she queried.

"Oh, I am sorry to keep you standing here!" she exclaimed and gestured inward. "Please come in! Aunt Maeben, this elf is a messenger from the king. He is here to see about our yearly reports that I sent in a few weeks ago."

Now, in this moment, Legolas reached a crossroad of a moral nature. He did not correct the young girl when she referred to him as a messenger; for in fact, he later justified his next decision with himself, was he not doing that very thing? So in a split second decision that he would come to regret painfully later, he allowed the pretense to continue.

"Yes, of course," he said with a slight bow of his head. "Please, call me L—" he improvised "-Locien." He could not very well tell them his given name, for he would immediately be recognized as the prince! He just blurted out the first name he thought of, and for crying out loud, it was the name of his horse, but it was all he could think of in the moment! His ears started to burn in the unfortunate way they always did when he tried to lie. He really was terrible at any sort of deception.

Yet the ladies of the house, if they heeded the pink tinge to the tips of the ears, only took it as a mild form of social awkwardness. The poor ellon clearly did not get out very often.

With a slight grin, Legolas happily followed them into the house, reveling in his decision to change into his simple, plain traveling clothes before he left the palace. If he played his cards right, he could have several days, maybe even a week, of playing hooky from his royal duties.

"We are very pleased to meet you, Master Locien," Maeben intoned. "We are honored to have someone come from the royal courts to our vineyard. I can tell you that my brother Belchuil could not be prouder about being accepted into the king's consortium this year. Our business has not only increased, but we are also very pleased be on the royal vintner list."

Legolas sat down and was about to speak when someone else flew into the sitting room at a startling pace. It was a much younger elleth with big loopy curls and a terrified expression on her face.

"Orcs!" she screeched at the top of her lungs and ran past the settee, heedless of the ladies' visitor. "Orcs have broken into the fortress!"

Legolas jumped up instinctually, his hand going to the knife at his belt, only to see the older elleth, Thaliniel, draw a small short sword from her big apron pocket. "Ready the defenses then, Narylfiel!" she shouted back to her sister.

"We'll cut them off at the gate," Narylfiel bellowed, and then darted from the room.

Thaliniel smiled apologetically at her guest. "Orc attack," she explained as she sheepishly tucked the sword back into the waste band of her apron. "We have at least four or five a day. My younger sister fancies herself one of the fearless forest guard."

Legolas sat back down and let himself smile. "Then I am glad we can trust her with the outer defenses?" he quipped, trying to put the ladies back at ease.

He met Thaliniel's eyes for a moment, and she nodded approvingly.

Aunt Maeben stood. "Master Locien, we are honored by your presence. Although my brother may not be home to speak with you about the reports, you must stay for dinner and enjoy the comforts of our vineyard while you wait for his return. In the meantime, I am sure Thaliniel will be happy to assist you."

"Yes, of course!" Thaliniel straightened from her slouch, and beckoned for the prince to follow her to one of the guest rooms. "We will put you here, Master Locien; this room undoubtedly has one of the nicer views of the whole manor, and this window here looks right past this tall oak, perfectly situated for climbing out… Ahem. Not that I would know _anything_ about sneaking out of the house at night of course."

"Of course not," Legolas agreed amiably and added, "but you must call me L-Locien." He stumbled over the name again, but covered his embarrassment by joining her at the window, and the pair leaned against the wide, open frame and looked out past the verdant, dipping hills to where the sky grew hazy, and distant mountains smudged the horizon.

Legolas cut his eyes toward her; he could practically feel the desire radiating off her, not for his person, of course, but for the promise of those distant mountains. She longed to go there, he could tell, and in that moment, Legolas knew decisively that she was the one who had written the misplaced passage in the annual reports. He desperately wanted to broach the subject with her, but the words just would not come. He hated feeling awkward talking to elleths. Usually back in the palace, they would approach him, and practically carry on the entire conversation as well. He was used to being the 'approachee,' not the 'approacher.'

He sighed and turned away. "Thank you. Perhaps later we can speak of the annual reports?"

Thaliniel straightened. "Yes, certainly. I should probably go and collect my little sister. Who knows what she has gotten into by now?" She excused herself, and Legolas was left alone with his thoughts.

The prince was torn between being extremely pleased with his current situation and feeling completely guilty for hiding his identity from the family that had so openly accepted him. He knew what his father would think. The king would be appalled that Legolas tried to hide his identity, because Thranduil had always tried to instill a firm sense of pride and confidence in his young soft-spoken son. Legolas groaned. What may have come naturally to the father did not apply to the son. Legolas felt that he fell painfully short of what a royal prince should be, and just maybe that was why this new adventure appealed so much to him. For once in his life, he did not have to be the Prince of Mirkwood.

He could just be himself.

Just Legolas.

**Thank you for reading! Please Review and let me know if I should continue!**


	3. Dinner (and a show)

**To my reviewers:**

**LegolasGreenleafLove: Thank you for your vote of confidence! It made me want to go and write another chapter!**

**SleepyHollow5: Thank you for your review! I am loving "Worlds Apart!" ;)**

**Arwegornandfeowyn: Thank you for reviewing my latest chapter! And on **_**Building Ithilien**_**—you are so close to finishing that story (and some of my favorite chapters come at the very end!) **

**Trollalala: There's just something about an awkward, blushing Legolas that I find endearing! More to come in this chapter!**

**Starfire341: Thank you for your review! I appreciate your comment about the poetic style. I try my best to channel my 'inner-Tolkien.'**

**Miss Les Paul: I am SO glad you have started reading this story; you were always one of my most encouraging voices on Building Ithilien! (And sometimes giving me a much needed kick to keep writing!)**

**ImperialJedi: Thanks for the love! Our favorite prince is going to get his chance to spread his wings! **

_Wanderlust_

Chapter 3: Dinner (and a show)

The dining room at Faendol was open and airy, with a long table complete with a heavy dark green table cloth and an ivory woven table runner, illuminated by several long tapered candles on gleaming silver bases, which spoke of the vineyards' affluence and long success. Legolas could imagine that the master of the vineyard, Belchuil, must enjoy the niceties of society and gentle conversation, for the whole room suggested a sense of poise and sophistication.

This particular dinner, however, proved to be like nothing Legolas expected, or had ever even experienced, for that matter.

Aunt Maeben presided austerely over the head of the table, explaining that she had been raising her brothers' two daughters since their mother had died shortly after the birth of Narylfiel.

Narylfiel and Thaliniel's seats were conspicuously vacant.

Legolas took his seat, not sure of what to make of the sisters' absences. By the time a servant brought in the soup, their seats were still empty.

Then he heard what could only be defined as a tortured screech.

"No, no, no! I won't!" the first voice shouted. It had to be the younger sister.

"You have to! He's already in there," the second voice hissed.

Legolas glanced over to Aunt Maeben to see her press her fingers to her temple as though her head ached. She shook her head apologetically.

"Make him leave!" Narylfiel protested, and soon sounds of scuffling reached the hall outside the dining room, almost as if Thaliniel was dragging her sister to dinner.

She poked her head in the door and gripped the frame with one hand, like she had to brace herself from some unseen force.

"Just one moment," she mouthed and whipped back around to the other side of the door.

In a few seconds, Narylfiel entered the room, her face bright red, eyes brimming with angry tears. She glared at Legolas. As they took their seats and Thaliniel whispered something into her aunt's ear, the elfling stuck her tongue out at Legolas.

Her audacity surprised him, but even more shocking was that he actually retaliated by sticking his tongue back out at her, confident that the exchange had been completely missed by the two older women. He could not help but smile after the exchange, but Narylfiel only narrowed her eyes at him.

Thaliniel quickly took her place across from Legolas, trying her best to pretend that nothing had happened.

"So, Master Locien, working in the halls of the King Thranduil must be very exciting. I am sure you must see all sorts of exciting events and people there, not to mention the royal family themselves, King Thranduil and Prince Legolas. What are they like?"

Legolas choked on his soup. He could feel his ears burning. He sputtered and then coughed, and then Narylfiel stood on her chair so she could smack him hard between the shoulder blades.

"Excuse me," Legolas said at last now that his whole countenance was tinged pink. "So, the royal family," he began uncomfortably, "I believe that you would find them to be just like any other elves you might meet. I spend much of my time in the offices of the palace…it is a pretty quiet life." Talk about evading the question. This was proving more difficult than he believed possible, yet every word he said _was_ true.

Narylfiel's eyes began to gleam. "Yes, but the Royal Guard is stationed right there! They defend the palace from orcs and insurgents, from beasts!" She looked at Legolas directly now, her old grievances forgotten. "Have you ever seen them fight?"

He cleared his throat and silently cursed his burning ears once again. "Well, my father always encouraged me to pursue more academic studies. Even though I actually trained with the members of the guard in my youth, he discouraged me from joining their company…but I have seen them fight in the past."

"What? Why?" questioned Narylfiel, who now gave the prince her full, undivided attention. "Please tell me what kind of weapons you trained with."

Glad to see her sister finally giving their visitor a chance, Thaliniel smiled but gently reproached her, "Narylfiel, let Master Locien have a chance to eat his dinner," but then she quickly added, "although we would love to hear about your adventures."

Legolas inwardly grimaced. His adventures were nonexistent. He took a slow sip of soup while his mind raced.

"Well, I trained with the bow, knives, and long sword; my favorite would have to be the bow, even though my father prefers the long sword," Legolas confessed.

"What sort of work does your father do, Locien?" Thaliniel asked, attempting to continue the conversation as she dipping her bread into the soup.

Legolas took another perfectly timed bite of soup. "He, um, works in the palace too. Mostly with diplomacy and administration." The Valar were surely going to strike him down, and if that did not happen first, then his father would finish the job if he ever found out.

"Look, Locien. I like knives too," Narylfiel casually added to the conversation. "I practice throwing at targets all the time. Watch this!" With that said, Narylfiel flipped up the rather sharp carving knife.

"Narylfiel, no!" Thaliniel exclaimed, but seconds too late.

Her sister had already flung it at lightning speed down across the opposite end of the table, slashing the candlestick off at the base next to the prince. The long tapered end of the candle fell into the prince's soup and sizzled out while the knife embedded itself on the far wall, perfectly centered on a framed painting of a fruit bowl, right in the apple.

Legolas delicately fished the end of the candle out of his bowl.

Dead silence reigned for at least ten seconds, and then pandemonium broke loose with everyone talking at once:

"Narylfiel!" Thaliniel reprimanded, no—more like shouted—"what is this? Like the tenth time that we have had to tell you not to throw knives at the dinner table?"

"Did you see that, Master Locien?" Narylfiel hopped up and cantered over to the far wall to collect her knife. "Perfect aim, right?"

"Girls!" commanded the aunt. "This behavior is completely unbecoming, and in front of our guest too!"

But instead of looking chagrined, Narylfiel spied something out the window, completely ignoring her aunt. She cast a wicked looking glance at her older sister. "Thaliniel, your favorite person is about to be here!" she chimed.

Thaliniel paled and looked pleadingly at her aunt and guest. "Please, I'm not here! Say I went to market!" And she ducked beneath the tablecloth and table.

Legolas had less than a moment to look aghast at the aunt; this was truly the most bizarre dinner he had ever sat down to—and the most humorous. He did not know whether to laugh or feel sorry for Aunt Maeben, and that was before a servant brought in another guest, a gangly young ellon with an exuberant grin.

"Good evening, Maeben. I have come to call on Thaliniel. Perhaps she might like to go for a walk with me?" His voice sounded very young and a little squeaky as his eyes swept the room for his quarry.

"Oh, Barathion. It is a pleasure to see you again," said Maeben, rather weakly. "Let me introduce our guest; this is Master Locien. He works for the king!"

Legolas stood up to greet the newcomer. "It is a pleasure to meet you. I just rode in this evening myself from the palace."

Barathion looked suitably impressed and nodded his head appraisingly. "So…where is Thaliniel?"

Maeben nervously shifted her eyes to Legolas. "She—went to market?"

"Oh dear, I'm sure she will just hate having missed my visit! We are such good companions." Barathion assured Legolas with a wink. "But what is this? I see an extra place setting. Maeben, did you put that out for me? You are so very kind. How did you ever know how famished I am?" Barathion pulled out Thaliniel's former seat and sat down at the table. As he did so, Legolas could feel Thaliniel bump into his knee as she tried to get out of the way.

A muffled "Ow!" could be heard from beneath the table.

"What was that?" Barathion looked confusedly across the table at Legolas.

"Owls," he said and wanted to slap himself for his own stupidity. "Owls have really become a nuisance at the palace…roosting in the eves and making nests. We can hardly get rid of them."

Narylfiel's eyes beamed with mischief. "Big owls with large talons can be very dangerous, or so I have heard," she said, with a misleadingly tremulous note to her voice.

"Well, not so much—" Legolas began.

"Of course," Narylfiel interrupted. "Not so much at the palace, because the amazing Royal Guard chased them away, and now they are just circling our area. Looking for places to nest. I heard the big ones could take down an entire horse!"

Barathion gulped, his fork clattering to the table. "Here?"

"None have been sighted," Legolas assured him. Could this conversation get any more out of hand?

"None ever are sighted until they attack! Swooping down, aiming right for the jugular—"

"Narylfiel!" Aunt Maeben cried. "That is enough!" But the younger elleth's words had met their mark, for shortly thereafter, Barathion laid his napkin down and excused himself from the table, thanking his hostess for a delightful course, and quickly exited.

Legolas leaned down and pulled up the tablecloth to peak at Thaliniel under the table. "It is safe. You can come out now," he teased.

She swept out from under the table as if it were the most ordinary thing to do so and picked up the discarded napkin. "Dessert, anyone?"

Later that night, Legolas found himself staring back out the large picture window in his bedroom. He honestly could not remember another time when he had enjoyed himself or wanted to laugh more than at dinner this evening. His heart felt genuinely light, and he knew it had to be from feeling the freedom of dining away from his father's careful gaze or the haughty eyes of the court. Legolas swung his leg over the windowsill and pulled himself into the tree, where he could see the pale white rind of the moon between the arc of the swaying leaves. Down the hall, he heard laughter, sweet and clear, and he smiled to himself as he stretched out over the lofty branch. He had only been here a few hours, but already he felt more comfortable, relaxed than he ever did in his father's halls, and the prince could not help but wonder if this must be what a real home felt like.

**Thank you for reading and please review!**

Let me know if I should keep writing, and bonus cookies for any of you extreme Tolkien aficionados who know which phrase I borrowed _Fellowship of the Ring_!


	4. Travelers from Imladris

**LOTR-HP-PJ: Thank you for posting a review! (The phrase I borrowed was Tolkien's comparison of the moon to a melon "white rind." His way with words is just phenomenal. No one else knew what it was either. Guess that makes me a total LOTR dork!) But that's okay!**

**Trollalalala: I really like Narylfiel's mischievous personality too, which is definitely going to come into play more as the story progresses. She is very fun to write.**

**Starfire341: I imagine that Thranduil would probably have some pretty strong words concerning Legolas' little charade he has going! Eventually, we'll see more of the Elven king… I promise! ;)**

**ImperialJedi: I agree with you completely. Legolas is completely out of his comfort zone here! **

**Elfwine: Thank you for reading, and I love that the last chapter made you laugh! I feel like out of all of the genres, comedy and humor is one of the most difficult to do well, so the last chapter was a challenge in that respect.**

**Seriya Silvermist: I love your idea about a Thranduil POV scene (I have so already gone there in my imagination!) and yes, Legolas is a horrible improviser. He's terrible at deceit (and that is pretty endearing in itself!)**

**Arwegornandfeowyn: The part about the owls makes me think of Napoleon Dynamite: "Do the chickens have large talons?" I had a lot of fun writing that dinner scene.**

**SleepyHollow5: I'm so glad to hear that you enjoyed the last chapter—and thought it was funny too. (It's so hard to do 'funny' sometimes!) Now go and update your story! Please! ;)**

**Miss Les Paul: It was chaotic, wasn't it? It was pretty much the opposite to Legolas' courtly, regimented life! Those girls are high-spirited!**

**Hobbit-Ivy: I am SO glad that you are on board for my new story! Squeal! It's going to be so much fun! And a very different Legolas than in Building Ithilien…**

* * *

Chapter Four: Travelers from Imladris

Dawn sped swiftly to Faendol, crowning the crest of the vineyard with a shimmering helm, and bright droplets of dew caught the morning light, almost blinding as the sun rose over the eastern hills. Legolas marveled how even the air seemed to shine here as he crossed over to the stables at check on his horse Locien, a pitch black stallion with white fetlocks, whom had been gifted to the young prince by his father several years ago.

The prince's horse had obviously been well cared for by the stable hands, and Legolas was quite content as he strolled out of the barn, whistling a chipper tune, and just as he glanced back to bid farewell to his horse, he stumbled into Thaliniel, who promptly dropped her full basket of eggs onto his boots.

"Oh, no!" she exclaimed, just as he started apologizing for running into her. "I am really sorry about your shoes." Sticky yolk and shells dripped down in globs, forming a puddle around his feet.

"It is hardly your fault," he disagreed, while trying to shake some of the broken yokes off of the fine leather. "After all, I bumped into you."

Thaliniel shook her head in protest. "Locien, please, let me help—it is the least I can do!" She steered the prince to a low stone wall where he could sit down. "Aunt Maeben claims I just attract all sorts of trouble," she confessed, dismayed at the mess.

Legolas pulled off the first boot and started to pick the shells off. He glanced sideways at Thaliniel, who offered him her apron. "Your cook is probably going to fire you from collecting any more eggs," he joked.

"Oh, it is usually Narylfiel's job to visit the hens; only I made a deal with her, so I had to go this morning," she said and then blushed slightly at her admission.

"A deal?" Legolas questioned and arched an elegant eyebrow.

"Remember dinner? I bribed her into going by offering to do her morning chores," Thaliniel confessed sheepishly.

"I do not believe that there is any possible way that I should ever forget that dinner," Legolas admitted. "It has become firmly lodged in my memory." He pulled off the second boot, and Thaliniel took it from him to wipe it down with her apron.

"You are hardly blameless, Master Locien," Thaliniel countered, "with your mad talk of weaponry and owls. In fact, some might label you as an instigator." She looked up at him and smiled, and Legolas noticed for the first time the warm brown of her eyes and the fact that she had a dimple in her right cheek.

He cut his eyes away from her, and suddenly feeling very self-conscious, roughly pulled on his first boot and then the second. They were still sticky. "It was not I who hid under the table, my lady," he said. Her inquisitive gaze made him all kinds of nervous. He needed to deflect her attention away from himself.

"What about this Barathion character? He seemed fairly keen on taking you out for a stroll," he teased and stood up, picking up the egg basket and offering his other arm to her.

She took his arm, and they began to walk back to the house. "Barathion is the son of my father's closest friend and our neighboring vineyard. We grew up together. I am sure my father would love nothing more than if we were courting, but I…" her voice trailed off wistfully.

"Have other plans?" Legolas supplied helpfully, thinking of the passionate lines she had written about travelling.

She bit her lower lip and looked up at him through dark, tangled lashes. "Something like that," she agreed and added, "Now I am sure that you would like to look at those reports this morning. You probably want to get back to the palace as soon as possible."

Legolas stifled a groan. Getting back to the palace was the very last thing on his mind.

"We could start by looking at them over breakfast," he suggested, and so they agreed to do that very thing.

* * *

Later that morning, the two sat side by side with their morning repast, in which eggs of any form were conspicuously absent, and Legolas brought out his copy of the ledger which Thaliniel had sent in a few weeks earlier.

"Now, see the figures on this page seem to be in order," he said, showing her the first page and then flipping to the next, "but the numbers skip ahead here, almost as if there was a page missing?"

"That cannot be!" she protested, clearly flustered. She looked at the first page and then the following. "It seems as if though I am missing several months of figures," she moaned. "How could I be so careless?" Thaliniel leaned her head on her hand and glanced at the handsome ellon beside her.

"I think you may have accidentally left out a page?" Legolas tried helpfully. He really just wanted to ask her about her "Wanderlust" passage, but did not know how to bring it up, especially now that she was getting so upset about the accounting mistake.

Thaliniel picked up her father's ledger, the one that she had so carefully balanced. She flipped through, and sure enough, there was the missing second page, followed by a couple of her own writings. She pulled it out and quickly snapped the book shut before Legolas could see any of the other writings.

"I think this may be the missing page," she said, her cheeks heating up. "There will not be any sort of penalty, will there?" Thaliniel asked earnestly, secretly praising the Valar that her father might not learn of her oversight.

Legolas scanned the document and then nodded. "Now, this makes sense," he agreed, "and it all seems to be perfectly in order. I believe that there will be no need for any kind of penalty this time."

Thaliniel exhaled a breath she did not even know she had been holding. "Praise the Valar!" she exclaimed thankfully. "I truly am sorry," she apologized. "I feel terrible knowing that you had to travel all the way out here to correct my careless mistake."

Legolas picked up the new second page and placed it with the original document in his satchel. "No need to feel badly, Thaliniel," he said and added, his voice softer, " I was honestly glad to get a chance to leave the palace for a change." A simple resolution was the last thing Legolas wanted, and inwardly he cringed at the thought of going back to his father's halls. He just was not ready to return. He thought for a moment, and the perfect idea came to him.

"Before I leave, I would like to tour the vineyards, see the vines and crops, sort of the whole process, you know, just in case the king has any questions," Legolas said quickly, knowing very well that his father probably could care less about how the wine was made as long as it met his impeccably high standards, but the excuse sounded great and would give him a reason to stay just a little longer.

Thaliniel readily agreed, and the dining room grew rather silent. She pushed her hair over her shoulder and gave him a small, encouraging smile. "Thank you for your help, Locien. I really do appreciate the help you have given me, I mean, with the accounts."

Now would have been the perfect time for the prince to confess that he possessed her manuscript, which had mistakenly made it into his report, but just as he mulled over the thought of bringing it up, Narylfiel bounced into the dining room.

"Thaliniel! We have more visitors! Can you believe it! This is turning out to be the best weekend ever!" Narylfiel crowed excitedly and pulled on her sister to look out the front window.

Legolas joined them and noticed a small group of traveling elves, who were probably heading back to Dale or one of the towns near the Iron Hills to trade. He silently cursed his own foolish luck, knowing that any one of them might recognize him.

The elves were travelers from Imladris, on their way through the southern part of the forest to the Iron Hills. There were six total, complete with mounts and a small wagon, covered in the elvish style. Aunt Maeben agreed graciously to let them stay to dinner and board for the night, granting them access to the stables and feed for their horses. Narylfiel proved beyond ecstatic, peppering all of the travelers-long, dark-haired elves from Rivendell-with every sort of question. Even Thaliniel found herself drawn to the two leaders of the group, Elrestor and Elfindel, who looked so similar in appearance, it was practically impossible to tell them apart.

Legolas found himself not quite so easily accepting of these foreign elves, from Imladris, where Lord Elrond often meddled in the affairs of others, or so his father claimed. He noted the deep shine in the tackle and leather of their mounts, the expensive quality to the cut and make of their clothing. These elves were not mere traders, whatever they might pretend to be.

Later, Legolas approached one of the Imladris elves in the stable. "You are not just traders, are you?" he said quietly.

The elf, who claimed to be 'Elrestor,' chuckled. "Of course, we are, friend. We are just travelers."

"Pretty heavily armed travelers," Legolas noted with contempt, taking in Elrestor's long, curved elven sword, vambraces, full quiver, and unstrung bow. "King Thranduil would not be pleased if you plan on making any sort of trouble in his realm. I insist that you tell me of your true intentions."

"Who are you to insist anything?" Elrestor countered, crossing his arms. "Although, speaking of Thranduil, your resemblance to him _is_ uncanny." He lowered his voice. "Prince Legolas, is it?"

Legolas took a step back and glanced up and down the barn to see if anyone had heard. He narrowed his eyes and hissed, "We may both conceal much, Elrestor, but I cannot ignore or sanction your passage in these lands without good reason."

"Listen, Legolas, I am not here to ruin your cover, and I would ask that you return the favor. My brother, my friends, and I will leave at dawn. Please do not try to hinder our journey. You are right that not all is as it appears, but I cannot tell you more." Elrestor turned to leave, and Legolas followed right behind him, neither noting the dark, curly head poking around one of the horse's stalls.

Narylfiel had heard everything.

* * *

Dun-dun-dun! What is she going to do now?!

Please review! Who were those mystery elves from Rivendell? Bonus lembas for correct guesses!

And, hey! It's my birthday today! Give the gift of reviewing! :)


	5. Heart Sore

**Chamelecium: Wow! 4 reviews! Thank you so much! I am so glad you started reading my story, and I can't wait for you to see what happens next!**

"**Guest"—My brilliant powers of deduction tell me that perhaps your name isn't really 'guest.' I appreciated what you had to say about not portraying Legolas as this perfect guy, and I agree. I mean, even in the original book he comes off as being narrow minded and a little uptight. But we learn to love him despite those flaws. ;)**

**Seriya Silvermist: Thanks for the birthday wishes! I had a great day! We'll see what Narylfiel does with her new found knowledge in this chapter and maybe even learn more about those mystery elves from Rivendell.**

**Miss Les Paul: Thank you, Nev! (Still thinking in terms of your old pen name! It's just a hard habit to break.) You are just awesome that way! Ever go back and lurk on the OB board? I did finish posting **_**Building Ithilien**_** there. I was sort of thinking about putting this new story there too, just for old times' sake!**

**Starfire341: Lembas for you! You guessed correctly—and are totally right about them being up to something! Why else would they travel under aliases? **

**Arwegornandfeowyn: Lembas for you, too! And thank you for reviewing (and being my 600****th**** reviewer on **_**Building Ithilien**_**! That was like the BEST birthday present!**

**SleepyHollow5: You are correct—it is HIGHLY possible that Narylfiel might just blow Legolas' cover or have a little fun at his expense… And perhaps there might be a whiff of romance too, a smidge. So, I am sad about no updates on your story, but you're in Europe, which is awesome! So just have fun!**

* * *

Chapter 5: Heart Sore

That evening found all the travelers relaxing in a large outside pavilion with an open fire pit, settled on the gentle slopes overlooking the rambling rows of vines curling across the trellises set among the loamy fields. On the far end of the pavilion, Legolas hung back, still mulling over the conversation he had with one of the leaders, Elrestor, of the group from Imladris. He did not trust these elves' intentions, whatever they may have been; so he kept his eye on the two strikingly similar elves, listened, and waited. If his luck held, they would be gone at first light the next morning, and his cover would be safe once more.

His eyes followed the dark-haired elves as they jested with Narylfiel, trying to teach her a song from their own 'Hall of Fire' back in Rivendell, and then Legolas' gaze lingered on her sister, Thaliniel, who perched eagerly on the stone ledge beside her. He reminded himself that his curiosity was purely academic, of course, and that he was chiefly interested in her writing.

Then why did he keep staring at the adorable dent in her upper lip? Or kept noticing how the waves of her rich, chestnut hair gleamed in the firelight?

Purely academic interest, Legolas told himself. Right.

Meanwhile, Narylfiel caught him staring at her sister. The young elleth recalled the hushed conversation, which she had overheard earlier in her father's stables.

"Master Locien," she called and hopped up from her seat between Elrestor and Elfindel to pull a rather reluctant Legolas right into the gathering of elves around the fire. "Sit next to Thaliniel; we would be remiss in our hostess duties if we let you stand all the way over there," she suggested with a gleam in her eye.

Legolas could not help but acquiesce and gave a small smile to Thaliniel as he took a seat by her.

"Master Locien here is from the Elven King's Halls," she informed the other elves proudly and added, "I wager he knows some great songs from their minstrels there. Please sing us one—perhaps about King Thranduil, or—oh, I know—Prince Legolas! I would _love_ to hear more about him."

Legolas turned a delicate shade of green. He coughed politely. "Well," he started to say and then coughed some more, for effect, "I think the smoke from the fire is getting to me."

Thaliniel caught his arm, sensing his embarrassment, perhaps, for being singled out by her irrepressible sibling. "You do not have to sing, Locien, but I would love to hear more about the king or the prince." She turned to the other guests and told them excitedly, "I have seen King Thranduil before, riding with the Royal Guard down the country road that passes by my father's estate. He was nothing short of being, well, incredible—he was all gleaming and silver, so kingly."

"What does Prince Legolas look like?" Narylfiel enquired to Master Locien, her voice all innocence.

At this point, Legolas considered crawling into the firepit itself as a cheerful alternative to Narylfiel's questions.

"I have seen him and King Thranduil before," supplied Elrestor with pitying glance at Legolas. "They actually look very similar—blonde hair, blue eyes—same superior attitudes."

"I do not—" Legolas started and checked himself, "do not…believe that the royal family finds themselves superior to any of their people."

Just then Aunt Maeben joined the group and beckoned for Thaliniel to join her outside the pavilion. Moments later, Maeben left and Thaliniel rejoined the group, shrugging apologetically. "Aunt Maeben sends her regrets that she will not be able to join us tonight. She has been called to the village. One of the women there has gone into labor, and the usual midwife has a broken leg. Maeben did bid us to open up one of the smaller casks from my father's stores, though!" She directed her father's overseer to choose one from the storeroom and bring glasses for everyone. Then their quiet party became very merry indeed.

After only a few glasses of the potent selection, Legolas began to feel his inhibitions slipping. Elven wine is not to be consumed lightly, and this vintage was no exception. Both of the brothers from Rivendell had taken to singing an extremely loud jig about Lord Elrond while Narylfiel and Thaliniel danced with each other.

Then Legolas stood up, cheeks rosy in the light of the fire.

"I have a song," he slurred. "Here's to King Thranduil, my fath—favorite king!"

_ King Thranduil is a merry old soul  
He reigns on high in his mountain hole  
With his crown of berries,  
He's the Envy of fairies!_

_ Raise your glass to the Elven King!_

_ Oh, the elven king loves to drink  
All around him, hear the glasses clink  
He's the bravest in the Hall,  
Yes, feared and loved by all!_

_ Raise your glass to the Elven King!_

And all the elves around the fire clinked their glasses together and saluted King Thranduil, but Legolas was not yet finished, and his voice grew somber.

_ Now, Prince Legolas is a quiet lad  
Really nothing like his dear old dad  
He's a serious soul  
No fearless tales to be told_

_ Of Legolas…_

The prince's voice trailed off, and he sat his glass down. "I need some air, I think," he said abruptly and excused himself.

He pushed his way past the Imladris elves and headed back to the house. Behind him the thin white column of smoke from the fire pit curled into the deep vault of stars overhead, but even their radiance brought no comfort to Legolas' heart. He might be a prince, but his title felt vacant, empty even, especially after hearing so much about Elrestor and Elfindel's heroic tales of fighting goblins or trolls.

A small voice sounded behind him. "Master Locien?"

Legolas frowned and turned, crossing his arms in front of his chest. It was Narylfiel. She had followed him away from the fire pavilion. "Yes?" he said quietly, expecting more questions or for her to encourage him to return to the party.

She scuffed the toe of her delicate slipper in the dirt, and this was the first time Legolas had seen her so quiet or withdrawn. "I just wanted to tell you that I liked your song," she told him earnestly tugging on the end of one dark curl, "but I also think that… think that Prince Legolas could be brave too. Just like the king."

She bit her lip and looked at him expectantly, and in that moment, Legolas suspected, or really knew, that somehow she had discovered his identity. He could hardly be angry with her for all her teasing; at the moment, she just looked so small and a little forlorn.

Legolas gave her a small smile and bent down so they might talk face to face. "No, Narylfiel. I do not foresee much opportunity for adventure in the Prince's future. His paths lead him right back to the staid life of accounting and diplomacy. Not all of us are born warriors for great deeds and renown."

Naryfiel remained unconvinced and looked at him piercingly. "You never know," she said hopefully. "Anything could happen."

"Perhaps," Legolas agreed with little enthusiasm and stood. "May I walk you back to the house?" He offered the young elleth his arm, which she delightedly accepted.

"Thaliniel told me I had to go to bed!" she complained. "I never get to do _anything_."

"I know how you feel," Legolas commiserated and winked at her.

"I am glad that you came to visit us," Narylfiel confessed, looking up at him slyly, "and I know that Thaliniel is glad too. She really likes you, you know."

"Hmm," Legolas replied noncommittally and ruffled her hair. "Good night, Narylfiel."

She scampered off to her room, and Legolas returned to his, seeking the comfort of the tree outside his window. Despite the young girl's kindness just now, he still could not shake feeling like he was absolutely lost, adrift—drowning, with no one to notice or care.

Legolas reached for the higher branch above his head and pulled himself up, then deftly, with all the skill that might come natural to a wood elf, he climbed as high as he possibly could in the tree, until the upper most branches would no longer hold his weight. There, towering above the manor, Legolas could see the orange crackle of the fire from the pavilion, then past the vineyard fields, to where the fields blurred into dark purple haze under the infinite vast track of stars. Long did he linger there, staring at the far reaches of the wilderness, until finally he slid down to rest against the branch, pulling his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around them. Rest would not come easily tonight, Legolas thought to himself. His heart was sore with longing.

* * *

Please Review! Because there's absolutely no telling what will happen in this story! Something BIG is going down in the next chapter!


	6. The Coming Storm

**Thank you to everyone who has added **_**Wanderlust**_** as a 'Favorite' or 'Alert.': **_**EzmeetheHedgehog, Uchiha no Kaori, innocentrini, Aria Breuer, Arnavi, Elfwine, Ennairual, ImperialJedi, Morgan94, Sonatica, ijskonijntje, katnor, and maegami! **_

**You guys are awesome! (But I'm dying to hear from you too!)**

**To my reviewers from Chapter Five:**

**Sleepy Hollow 5: Thank you for liking the way I write Legolas! I feel like I'm taking more risks with his character in this story than in my previous one.**

**ArwegornandFeowyn: Did I mention how happy I was that you were my 600****th**** review on Building Ithilien? So happy! So, Legolas' attempts at deceit are not that great, which begs the question: Just when exactly is he planning on coming clean about his true identity? I asked him, but all he said was that he prefers not to say anything at this time. **

**The Hobbit Ivy: You are SO correct! They were just too irresistible not to be included. Hee hee. Thank you for the compliments on the last chapter!**

**Miss Les Paul: So to answer your question-Narylfiel ups the ante in this chapter… big time.**

**Seriya Silvermist: Yes, Legolas is fooling himself with all that 'purely academic' nonsense. He says he's not, but we know better. ;)**

**Starfire341: Of course Legolas can't tell her how he feels—he can't even muster up the gumption to ask her about her writing! But, according to him, the timing just wasn't right, so maybe he'll have a better opportunity to do so in this chapter. *Legolas pretends to look crushed about my gumption comment.* But don't feel sorry for him! He knows I'm right!**

**Trollalalala: She is *very* sneaky. The sneakiness knows no boundaries. And thank you for loving the song in the last chapter. I am always tempted to try and include a few songs (like Mr. Tolkien himself!) but they are hard to write without feeling like a big dork sometimes. **

* * *

Chapter Six: The Coming Storm

Legolas spent the whole night in the tree outside his window, but instead of waking up feeling achy or sore, the prince felt surprisingly refreshed. A breeze wafted up from the fields below, cool and sweet, and Legolas could see the wagon wheel ruts in the dewy grass where the Rivendell elves must have left early before dawn. They were wise to get an early start on their journey, for dark thunderclouds wreathed the western sky. Storm weather.

Legolas' mind still lingered on the events from the previous night, but his resolve had strengthened. He really needed to have a conversation, an honest one, with his father for starters, and although he loathed to do so, Legolas knew he needed to leave the vineyard and return back to his father's halls.

The sound of a door swinging open, followed by a shriek from within the manor, quickly broke the prince's quiet musings, and he quickly swung down from the top branches to lower himself back into his bedroom. Standing before him, in his doorway, still in her nightgown, was Thaliniel, her face drawn and worried.

"Locien," she said, her voice trembling, "I cannot find Narylfiel. Anywhere! And I have looked everywhere. Her bed has not been slept in, and she is not in any of her usual hiding places."

Legolas instantly joined her at the door, wrapping his arm around her shoulders to steady her. "What about the stables or the grounds?" he asked, concern edging his voice.

"Our overseer just left to look right now," she said pitifully and looked at him with anxious eyes. "Aunt Maeben left last night, and with Father gone, I don't know what to do."

"Of course, I will help you in any way I can," Legolas assured her. "Has Narylfiel ever done anything like this before? Run away, I mean?"

"No, but she was pretty upset with me last night when I made her go to bed," Thaliniel confessed as she and Legolas left his room to walk back through the house to the younger girl's room. The bed was, as Thaliniel had observed, perfectly unslept in with nary a wrinkle in sight. Narylfiel's nightdress still lay folded on the bed next to a rather worn stuffed rabbit.

"I saw her on my own way back to the house," Legolas remembered out loud, looking around the room for any possible clues. "She did complain about her bed time and not getting to do, in her words, 'anything.'"

Thaliniel sank onto the bed and drew her sister's faded bunny into her lap. Unshed tears gleamed in her eyes, and she swallowed hard.

In the next second, Legolas was in front of her, taking her hands. "Thaliniel, we will find her. I promise you. In the mean time, let us come up with some sort of plan of action."

She looked up at him, with liquid brown eyes. "You are right, enough feeling sorry for myself," she said. "Aunt Maeben left me in charge. I have to fix this."

"We will fix it together," Legolas assured her, giving her a hand up from the bed. They quickly left the room and spent the next hour combing the grounds and outbuildings, but to no avail. Finally, Thaliniel, Legolas, and the vineyard foreman met at the front of the house.

"She is not on the grounds…she cannot be," Thaliniel said despairingly.

"Then we go and look for her," Legolas answered. "The morning is still young, and if we go on horseback, we may be able to catch up with her. She cannot have traveled very far on foot."

"Only, Locien," Thaliniel's eyes widened as a dreadful thought occurred to her—"what if she is not on foot? What if she left with the Rivendell elves?"

"As in kidnapped?" guessed the foreman.

"More likely stowed away," guessed Legolas. "She could have hid herself in their wagon. It would have offered the perfect place to hide." His eyes met Thaliniel's, and she nodded in agreement.

"We should leave as soon as possible then," Thaliniel said flatly, the enormity of the situation dawning on her. She had no experience out in the wild, not even the beginnings of a clue of what to do—and however much she may have longed for travel and adventure, this was far from her ideal situation. Her eyes drifted to Legolas for reassurance.

Much later Legolas would recall this moment and wonder what would have happened if perhaps he had answered differently, but at the time, there was absolutely no hesitation, no wavering. He immediately reached for her hand and laced her fingers with his own, and Thaliniel marveled at the strength in his grip for one with an accounting job.

His eyes were a stormy blue mirror of determination and will, so much so, that she caught her breath at their intensity.

"I promised to help you, Thaliniel, and I will, in any way that I can," Legolas assured her.

The next ten minutes blurred together as Legolas and Thaliniel rushed to their rooms to gather a few items and then raided the kitchen for some provisions. Thaliniel changed quickly from her night gown, which in all of her worry, she had completely forgotten about, to a very sensible long tunic, vest, and dark leggings, which would be much more suitable for riding. Before she left, Thaliniel propped a note to her aunt on the mantle piece, explaining what had happened, with assurances that Locien had gone with her to help.

The foreman met them out front with their mounts ready to go, and the two elves were off, out the main gate and down the road, where they could easily mark the fresh wheel tracks from earlier this morning.

"I still cannot believe that Narylfiel dared to run away like this!" Thaliniel exclaimed as they rode. "Whenever I find her, remind me to strangle her."

Legolas shifted his gaze from the tracks on the road to study Thaliniel, who although she easily kept pace beside him on her horse, looked unspeakably fragile. He knew she hardly meant her hard words, for she was still visibly upset, and the prince could sympathize with all of her worry for her younger sister.

"Let us just focus on finding her right now," Legolas advised. "These lands near your father's estate are relatively safe but grow increasingly wild in the next few miles."

Thaliniel nodded at him from the back of her horse, a gray dappled mare. "At least, well, I hope, that she is not alone. The Rivendell elves will protect her, will they not?"

"I believe they would, Thaliniel, but I also have a feeling that their little trading venture may not have been as innocent as Elfindel made it out to be." Legolas said, keeping his eye trained on the tracks before them.

Thaliniel took his words to heart but did not comment upon them. If he were correct, then her sister might be truly in peril. Even though she was very angry with Narylfiel, Thaliniel wanted her back home, safe. The two riders continued on down the road, carefully following the wagon tracks on the dirt road. They stopped only briefly for lunch to let the horses drink and graze, and then the pair were off again. Before long the narrow, winding dirt path converged with another much busier main road, both of which led to Dale, a thriving city of men in the shadow of the Lonely Mountain.

"Draw up your hood on your cloak," Legolas advised her and did likewise, "for we do not wish to draw unnecessary attention to ourselves." Moreover, those dark clouds, which Legolas had spied earlier in the morning, now stretched across the sky, a disagreeable gnarl of gray, and just as Thaliniel supposed things could not get any worse, rain began to fall—first, in small spits, then steady sprinkles. In less than ten minutes, the sky opened up to an all out deluge, soaking both the travelers and completely obscuring the road before them.

Their journey had just become immeasurably more complicated…

* * *

Please Review! This chapter was flavored with a hint of adventure-sauce, but I would love to know what other sorts of things you have a hankering for… Humor? Angst? Friendship? Romance? More Adventure? All you have to do is ask! ;)


	7. Higher Ground

**To all of my fabulous readers who reviewed the previous chapter:**

**Miss Les Paul: I thought about that too. I'm still undecided on the issue, but you know I probably won't be able to resist. I'm way too much of a romantic, but I'm also a strong advocate of friendship first! ;)**

**Charmelaucium: She **_**is**_** really sneaky. You think she maybe planned the whole thing? **

**Trollalalala: Your post cracked me up. I'm sure Narylfiel is doing the whole 'diabolical laugh and rubbing her hands together' too. Dance for me, puppets!**

**Starfire341: You know, I hadn't thought of going to her POV, but I can already see that scene unfolding after you mentioned it…**

**Arwegornandfeowyn: Hey, I like your letter-like reviews. You just keep on writing 'em! Legolas wanted to let you know that he **_**is**_** planning on telling Thaliniel the truth. He is waiting for the right moment in this chapter.**

**Seriya Silvermist: Thanks again for the review! Narylfiel's running away surprised me too. It just came out of nowhere.**

**SleepyHollow5: I'm glad you like my portrayal of Legolas. I see him as being a little less mature in this story, (but still totally loveable!)**

**Guest: Thank you! Keep in touch! **

**TheSage96: Your review just made my day! I am glad you ventured into LOTR land. Like you, I'm a big fan of the slow-developing romance. It feels more meaningful and invested when you really care about the characters (as opposed to the 'Boom. Insta-romance" as you put it!)**

**EzmeetheHedgehog: I am so glad you reviewed! I adore your penname by the way. Your review really spoke to me and ultimately influenced some of the action in this chapter. I agree with you on the Thranduil POV. I really think that I'm going to have to go there soon!**

**Elfwine: Your hunch about Narylfiel is correct. That girl has some ulterior motives! Thanks again for reviewing! **

* * *

Chapter 7: Higher Ground

Legolas dismounted first, quickly securing his horse Locien, and then turned to Thaliniel to help her dismount. In only a few minutes, the once dusty trail had already deepened into a mass of impassable mud.

"We need to move to higher ground," Legolas shouted above the din of the storm. This road ran too closely to the river for his comfort, for he had heard many a story in his father's halls about travelers caught unaware by rapidly rising water. He angled his head toward the rising bank for Thaliniel to see his intended path and then started leading the horses off the road. Thaliniel followed closely behind him, thankful for the fact that she had at least had the presence of mind to change into her boots before leaving home.

The rain continued to pour heavily, making their traverse up the higher bank even more treacherous. More than once, Thaliniel felt her feet slip out from under her, only to be steadied by the elf beside her. She could not be more grateful or appreciative for him, even though the pace he kept up the hill away from the road demanded every bit of her energy and endurance. Still she kept close behind him, not daring to slow, for even she had noticed the swell of water now covering the road behind her.

"Locien, the water rises quickly," she called to him, and for a moment, he turned and looked, his face and hair slick with rain as he shielded his eyes with a slender hand to aid his view.

"I think we will be out of danger once we reach the top of this hill, Thaliniel," he told her, his voice confident. "We might be able to take shelter under one of those trees, provided that it does not start lightning."

Once they reached the small grove of oaks at the top of the hill, Legolas secured the horses to graze under the shelter of the broad limbs. At last he lowered his cloak and gazed at the elleth apologetically. They were both completely drenched, and with the intensity of the storm, he had very little chance of making a lasting fire. All of the potential wood would be too wet. "Thaliniel," he said at last, "I am sure the other elves had to stop as well. Your sister cannot be too far ahead. Hopefully, we will meet up with them in Dale, once the storm is over. "

"What now, then?" she asked, unused to life on the trail. The rain _had_ dampened her spirits a little, but she did feel like she could really trust the elf before her. "I had hoped we might find Narylfiel and return home within the day, but I guess that was completely unrealistic of me."

"Well, now we wait," Legolas said, meeting her eyes awkwardly. "The ground is pretty wet, but I can give you a boost into the tree."

She smirked and then pulled herself up onto the lowest hanging branch. "A boost will not be necessary," she told him. "I used to climb that big tree outside the guest room all the time, much to my aunt's unending dismay."

"Right," Legolas remembered aloud as he climbed up beside her, "the tree that you said was so perfect for sneaking out at night, not that you would know…"

She grinned. "Of course not, Locien."

Her easy, trusting smile only served to make him feel that much worse. Legolas had grown up hating the disingenuousness of his father's courtiers; they had always seemed to him so phony, so false. Only now, given a chance to start fresh and be on his own, Legolas was every bit as guilty. His hypocrisy sickened him, and he fully regretted the lies and misdirection that he had earlier endorsed. Thaliniel did not even know his given name, and a part of him, one that was growing more difficult to ignore, wanted to hear his real name on her lips.

"Thaliniel," he began uncomfortably, but she interrupted him by pointing down the slope of the hill.

The water still rose, but now they were not the only creatures seeking higher ground. A trio of orcs had just crossed the muddy road and had started to make their way up the hill, toward the very trees where Legolas and Thaliniel had sought shelter.

"Thaliniel," whispered Legolas, "untie the horses. Make them run in the opposite direction, and then I want you to start climbing higher up in this tree. Keep yourself hidden."

He carefully reached under his cloak, brought forth his bow, and strung it, all the while keeping his eyes trained on the approaching orcs. Legolas had seen orcs before, and he had killed with his bow in the past, but all of that had occurred under the protective watch of the Royal Guard or his father. The prince had never been alone. He hoped he could pick off the orcs one by one with his bow. A small frisson of fear bloomed inside of him as he heard Thaliniel's small voice overhead wishing him luck.

She depended on him, Legolas reminded himself as he checked the long white knife on his belt. Had he not been longing for a moment _exactly _like this only a week ago? A chance to prove himself to his father?

With the thought of his father, Legolas took aim, pulling the bow taut, a perfectly fletched arrow aimed at the largest of the three. He could now smell their stench, hear them cursing in their black speech.

The rain still fell in relentless sheets, and the creatures climbed closer.

Legolas willed his hands to be steady, and he released the first arrow.

The orc snapped back from the impact of the arrow lodging itself firmly in his chest. Howling a guttural curse, the beast then lost his footing and slid down the hill toward the rising river.

In half of that time, Legolas had already aimed his second arrow and fired again; only now the other two orcs would not be so easily defeated. One orc pulled forth a heavy shield and easily blocked the arrow, while the other one charged up the hill, toward the tree. Legolas slid down from his branch and fired yet another arrow on his attacker, but it was too late. Swinging the broadest blade the prince had ever seen, the orc lunged toward him.

The prince dodged and pulled out his long white knife, deftly stepping out of the wide swathe of the orc's blade to render his own sharp blow to his enemy's shoulder.

Then everything seemed to go wrong at once. The burly orc backhanded the prince, knocking him to the ground just as his gruesome companion had finally made his way up the hill.

Legolas was outnumbered.

The prince may have struck the ground hard, but he scrambled up quickly, only to be pushed back down again by the other orc. As Legolas fell, he instinctively swung out his knife at the orc's legs, severing his enemy's tendons above the ankle. The brute collapsed forward on top of the elf, and Legolas caught him on the point of his knife.

Blood covered his hands, his chest, his knife—it was all he knew, smell, and felt at the moment—hot, dark, and steaming, a sharp contrast to the still falling frigid rain. When Legolas had collected himself in less than a split second, he glanced up to see the final orc's blade slash directly toward his own neck. He narrowly avoided the sword's tip, but suddenly this near miss no longer mattered. Thaliniel sprang down from the tree above and buried the hilt of her small, feminine dagger into the back of Legolas' assailant.

Legolas stared for a moment at the bloody smears on the wet grass beside him, and then glared at Thaliniel.

"Are you out of your mind?" he hissed and pushed himself up to stand directly before her. "You could have been killed! I told you to stay in the tree," Legolas said, his voice inching up an octave, pointing furiously at the tree behind him.

"How dare you yell at me?" Thaliniel said, her cheeks heating up, despite the rain. "My staying in the tree would not have saved your life just now."

Legolas' pride smarted, for she was undoubtedly correct. He _had_ needed her help, and he felt all the more foolish because of it. "I had it under control," he insisted all the same. "You would not know this, Thaliniel, because your life is so sheltered on your father's estate, but elves in the Royal Guard are more than capable of killing three orcs by themselves!"

Thaliniel wiped the water from her brow. "Locien, you are NOT in the Royal Guard. You are just an accountant, a messenger! What would your father think if you had gotten yourself killed just now?"

Legolas stared at her through narrowed eyes, and all around them the rain continued to fall in violent slashes.

"Do _not_ speak of my father to me again," he warned her in a low, emphatic voice.

Without another word or glance at her, Legolas turned and made his way back to the tree, pulling himself into the higher branches.

Thaliniel just stood there for a second, hardly knowing what to do next. Her choices were severely limited at the moment. Really, all she could do was to follow the elf back to the tree and hope that he would in time start acting more like the kind, warm person she had gotten to know back at her home. For the first time since they had left her house, she felt genuinely frightened and so very alone. She pushed back her hood and for a moment strained her eyes, trying to see any little part of her father's estate through the rain and fog, but it was lost to her. With a sigh, she trudged back to the shelter of the tree.

And the rain continued without reprieve, a steady gray curtain encircling everything around them.

* * *

Oh, no! There's trouble in paradise! Do you think they'll be able to make up in the next chapter? YOUR REVIEWS = _My Inspiration! _


	8. A Boon

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed chapter seven!**

**Charmelaucium: Thanks for the review on "Best Laid Plans," and I'm glad to hear that you might read my other, much longer story, Building Ithilien, too! (It was my first fan fic!)**

**Ilovevolleyball: A scene added to this chapter, just for you! Ask and you shall receive! **

**Seriya Silvermist: I was tempted to show her perspective a little more in that scene with the orcs. I am looking forward to her finding out the truth about her friend's less than humble origins…**

**Miss Les Paul: See what you think about this next little scene! **

**Starfire341: I agree with you. It's not exactly realistic to think that two friends, or even a couple, would always agree on everything. I like to see some sparks fly! *rubs hands together***

**Arwegornandfeowyn: Legolas wants you to know that he's working on the whole honesty thing, and that one of the scenes in this chapter was really embarrassing for him. **

**Trollalalala: The prince of Mirkwood insists that you stop crying immediately. He's very concerned about you, and promises to make it better. (and he says that if your hand keeps cramping he could give you a great elvish massage...) whatever that means...  
**

**SleepyHollow5: You were pretty on the mark with your assessment about why Legolas got so bent out of shape. He may be a prince and all, but he's still just a guy, all the same! ;)**

**EzmeetheHedgehog: Your wish is granted! There's a scene I added in this chapter just for you! As for the elvish, I love it too, but always am a bit reluctant to add it in for fear of completely butchering it! ;)**

**LotR-HP-PJ: Thaliniel's reaction coming up soon! Thanks for reviewing! **

**AND a BIG thank you to all of my new people who recently added the story to their favorites or alert list: RionD, Sugardrago1, StarlightWolf15. **

* * *

Chapter 8: A Boon

Thranduil paced alone in his office, and those counted among the courtiers who knew him best appreciated the simple truth that when the King of the wood elves paced, one should give his office a wide berth.

Galadhor, the king's chief of staff, passed the Beriadan, the Captain of the Royal Guard on the way to the office, and with a glance down the hall, pulled the warrior aside.

"Captain, a weather report?" he asked, his voice barely audible.

The Captain's eyes drifted toward the door to Thranduil's office, and he hesitated for a moment. "Stormy," he whispered. "You had better not go in there right now."

Galadhor swallowed uncomfortably. In truth, he would rather be anywhere but heading to Thranduil's inner sanctum; however, the king had sent for him, and no one in the palace would refuse a summons from Thranduil.

The Captain gave Galadhor a sympathetic look and then hurried away; he knew better than to linger. Reluctantly the advisor crept to the door, and peered around the frame, only to have his worst fears confirmed.

Thranduil currently wielded one of his scepters like a club, and he strode back and forth across the room from his desk to the fireplace, alternating between white-knuckle gripping the decorative staff to slashing it through the air like a sword.

Galadhor tentatively knocked on the doorframe to announce his arrival. "Ahem, your Majesty?"

Thranduil stopped mid-swing and pivoted, pointing the scepter at Galadhor. "Ah, Galadhor. Finally, you honor me with your presence," he said. The king's voice had ever been known as being incredibly fair, melodic even. Only now, it sounded positively venomous.

Galadhor side-stepped into the room, his face pale and drawn at the king's serpentine tones. Stormy, indeed. This was out an outright blizzard.

The king continued, and Galadhor would later swear that he felt the temperature in the room drop with every icy word. "Galadhor," Thranduil said and then paused for effect, "where is my son? Where is Legolas?"

"Your majesty," stammered the advisor, "he left with your permission to visit one of the vineyards."

"My sources tell me he is not there. They say," Thranduil paused again and narrowed his eyes, "that there is no record of Legolas ever having arrived at the vineyard in question."

Galadhor unwittingly stepped backward. "I am sure there is a simple explanation for this, King Thranduil. I will see to the matter personally, until it is resolved to your satisfaction," the advisor said hastily.

Crack! Thranduil snapped his scepter against the sideboard table, making all the trinkets rattle. The king had officially lost his patience. "This is no lost casket of wine we speak of, Galadhor," he snapped. "This is the Crown Prince of the Woodland Realm!"

The poor advisor's voice was shaky now; at best, his only possible saving move was a quick exit.

"Yes, of course, Your Majesty. I will check the ledgers and send out a detail from the Royal Guard," Galadhor assured his lord, before hastily bowing and darting out the door.

Thranduil slumped against the decorative table as soon as his advisor left and pressed his long, elegant fingers against his temple, which had begun to throb; in a single fluid motion, he pulled off his crown and flung it aside. He rubbed the side of his forehead, and then began to pace again, hoping the movement would help clear his thoughts.

Although being a good sort and exceedingly loyal, Galadhor could also be shortsighted to a fault. Clearly, Legolas did not want to be found. Did he need to spell it out to Galadhor for him to see it? His son must have falsified the court ledgers, and then he purposefully evaded the two guards that Thranduil had tailing Legolas for protection.

And the more important question was, the one Thranduil feared asking and dreaded the answer even more—if Legolas did not want to be found, then where was he?

* * *

The Crown Prince of the Woodland Realm crouched upon a tree branch in the middle of perhaps the worst downpour in the history of Arda. Disgruntled lines marred his usually serene countenance. Legolas was most unhappy. His tunic reeked of orc blood, everything he owned was probably soaking wet from the rain, and his companion, the adorable Thaliniel, had just completely defied and then belittled him. True, her assessment had only been an honest one, and perhaps that little irony rankled the most. She thought he was a nobody. He had purposefully led her to believe so, and now that she admonished him for trying to be more than his station, his feelings completely rebelled.

As he perched on one of the higher branches and watched her walk back to the tree, rain pouring off of her uncovered head, Legolas felt distinctly horrid. She must despise him. Truly! He despised himself. He huffed and turned around so she would not have to look at him. Or was it that he did not want to see the much-deserved condemnation in her eyes?

The sound of rustling told Legolas that she had climbed back into the tree. The shelter of the branches and thick leaves did much to allay the rain. Then the prince heard a sniffle, and then another one. He turned toward the sound only to catch Thaliniel trying to dab at her eyes with a dripping handkerchief.

"I am not crying, if you must know," she insisted weakly, "just..drying my face… from the rain."

If Legolas did not already feel bad enough for his hasty words to Thaliniel, he did now. He had been on the receiving end of his father's temper enough to appreciate the accompanying misery. And here he was watching her cry when he should have been acting as her protector.

"I am sorry," he said and then clarified, "for losing my temper earlier and yelling at you…and for what I said as well." He looked at her sheepishly and then left his branch to join her on the lower, wider one. Hesitantly, he took the handkerchief from her and carefully wiped away the smudges of dirt and the few tell-tale tracks of tears across her cheeks.

Thaliniel dabbed at her eyes again and offered him a small smile in return, which caught him completely off guard. Oh, that she might forgive him so easily.

She looked down, suddenly embarrassed either by the intensity of his gaze or his proximity, but Legolas guided her chin up with the tip of his finger.

"Please," he said softly, meeting her eyes. "Don't cry, Thaliniel." He smoothed his thumb across her cheek.

"You are far too charming for your own good," she chided him, catching the hand near her cheek with her own and then releasing it. He was so warm. "Do not think I am always so forgiving," she exclaimed and added roguishly, "but I am nothing if not practical. I am depending on you to help me find my sister!"

"We will set out as soon as the storm passes," Legolas assured her. "This has been a wretched start to our adventure, Thaliniel, but I promise I'll make it up to you."

"I think you owe me a boon," she said, her eyes brightening.

"A boon?"

"You know, like a favor," she answered. "In my family, when one of us, usually me or my sister, wronged one another, then we would owe the other person a boon. We would have to grant a favor."

Legolas' smile deepened, revealing a very fetching pair of dimples, and he swept his arm across his chest in an overly courtly bow, as courtly as possible when sitting on a tree branch, of course, "I would be honored to grant my lady a boon."

Thaliniel grinned at the obsequious gesture and then became serious. She thought for a moment as she wrung some of the water from the ends of her hair. She knew their friendship was still young and risked his ire by asking this of him. "Then my requested boon is this: I want you to tell me the truth about your father. Not now though," she added hastily, "but when you are ready to talk about him."

"The truth about my father?" repeated Legolas incredulously, and he could feel the tips of his ears start to burn. "Well…"

She looked at him squarely.

"Let's not speak of him now, Locien," she advised. "I understand how difficult a relationship with one's father can be, especially if yours is like mine and has all sorts of grand expectations concerning your future."

"You have no idea," Legolas murmured and then wisely changed the subject. "I think I'll see about changing this tunic, if you do not mind." He pushed himself up, and lithely stretched out his arm to snag his bag from the overhanging branch. Fortunately, his bag's seams were tight, and most of his provisions had remained dry. As he drew out his spare shirt, Legolas caught sight of Thaliniel's parchment, the very one that had captured his imagination and brought him out to her vineyard in the first place.

Remembering what she had written, the prince felt his cheeks flush again to feel her gaze upon him, and he shyly turned so his back was to her, quickly pulling his soiled tunic over his head and replacing it with his fresh one.

The whole transaction took less than a minute, and Thaliniel knew she could have and probably _should_ have looked away, but somehow she just could not help herself. She glimpsed a stretch of finely corded muscle from his arms to a pair of broad shoulders, and in spite of herself she blushed. Her only source of comparison was her childhood friend Barathion's lanky frame, which had nothing on Legolas' honed physique. Her mouth felt dry. He definitely did more than just keep ledgers.

The prince turned around and smoothed the front of his clean tunic, and Thaliniel suddenly pretended to be very interested in the leather strap of her bag, hoping that her hair hid her burning cheeks from his sight. Legolas took his seat next to her once again, too absorbed in what he was about to tell her to pay attention to her sudden discomfort.

"Thaliniel," he began slowly. "You asked for the truth about my father, and I must confess that I have not been entirely honest with you…"

* * *

Oh, no! A shameless cliff hanger! What will the outcome of this conversation be? Will our prince _finally_ get around to telling her the truth?

Please Review!


	9. Deluge

**First, I would like to thank PETER JACKSON for posting that glorious new trailer of _The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug_ on youtube and then for posting the reaction of some of the cast members to a video of fans watching the new trailer. If you haven't seen this yet, it's SO funny!**

**A special thanks to the awesomeness of those who reviewed the last chapter:**

**Aranel Mereneth: *Hugs* So glad to have you join me on this new story!**

**Miss Les Paul: I have always been a big Thranduil advocate, but have you SEEN the new Hobbit trailer?! 'Nuff said.**

**Ilovevolleyball: I feel terrible for leaving you hanging like that, and I kept trying to finish the chapter so quickly to update too! But I'll be honest, Legolas' confession did not come easily.**

**Hogwartswonderland: First, I have to say that I love your penname. Greatness! And thank you for reviewing!**

**Charmelaucium: Oh, he does tell her. Terribly. Read on! Thanks for reviewing! And I can't help but wonder—did you finish Building Ithilien? What did you think? It's very different from this story. Much darker.**

**EzmeetheHedgehog: Another Thranduil fan! I really had fun writing him (and honestly the trepidation and fear that his servants felt upon approaching his office was drawn from my own experience with my current crazy boss!)**

**Starfire341: I liked your take on Thaliniel's reaction to Legolas' telling the truth. I mean if it were me, or probably most women, in that situation, I would be REALLY angry.**

**Seriya Silvermist: I'm sorry I made you wait to see the outcome, but hopefully this chapter will make the wait worthwhile.**

**LOTR-HP-PJ: Hey, congrats on the last minute finishing of your math finals! LOL! Procrastination can bring such sweet victory when it all comes together at the last minute! *I solemnly swear: No more cliff…* Nope, can't do it. *evil grin***

**Arwegornandfeowyn: I've had a strict talking-to with the prince, and he assures me that the truth WILL be told in this chapter. Of course, he could just be lying to me too, so who knows?**

**SleepyHollow 5: If Thaliniel is hard on poor Legolas, well, he does really deserve it. But at the same time, she _did_ see him change his tunic, so that should be working in his favor in terms of quick forgiveness…**

* * *

Chapter 9: Deluge

It was now or never. The prince of Mirkwood took a deep breath and met her eyes, bracing himself for the deluge of questions to come. "You asked for the truth about my father," he began slowly. "Well, the truth is...my father is King Thranduil."

Thaliniel's mouth hung open for a split second before she snapped it shut and shook her head disbelievingly. "But that would make you... You..." She stammered.

"Prince Legolas," he supplied helpfully, and it must be said that now his secret was out, a small little part of him was enjoying her reaction.

She narrowed her eyes as his revelation sank in, and then reached over and smacked him with her bag.

Legolas feigned mock horror. "You would dare to strike the royal person?"

Thaliniel refused to be amused. "Are you really trying to make a joke out of this, _Prince Legolas? _After you lied to me? This whole time?" She smacked him again. "Of all the..."

"I know, I know," insisted Legolas, "and I really felt horrible about it too!"

"So who is Locien?" She said as she crossed her arms, feeling a little like a kettle about to steam.

He at least had the decency to look mildly chagrined. "My horse," he supplied softly.

"Your horse," she repeated dully. "Really."

Legolas decided to explain himself.

"Look, Thaliniel. I am a horrible liar, always have been."

"Didn't let that stop you," Thaliniel muttered.

He grabbed her by the upper arms so she would face him, so he could read the condemnation in her eyes. He knew he deserved the full measure of her anger.

"You are right, Thaliniel," he said slowly. "You have every right to be angry with me. What I did was wrong. I should have just told you the truth, the moment you opened the door." He paused and looked her at her squarely. "But when I came to your estate, I was running away—from my duties, from the palace, from my father, from everything. I was just so tired of being Prince Legolas, and I know that sounds like a whiny thing to say…"

"A little bit," she agreed, but her eyes had softened.

Feeling foolish, he cast his eyes down, away from the censure he might find in her own, and stared at his bag. He was surely the most moronic elf that had ever lived. By now, he was certain that his father had uncovered his little deception in the palace ledgers concerning his whereabouts, so Thranduil was probably livid. And how embarrassing would it be for his friends in the forest guard to be sent out looking for him, like an errant schoolboy? Then, to top it all off, Thaliniel sat there eying him like he was lower than dwarf-scum.

Since the situation, in his somewhat naïve opinion, could not possibly worsen, Legolas decided to go ahead and tell the elleth sitting across from him the entire story.

The prince hesitated and then pushed his hair away from his face and then met Thaliniel's eyes directly. He definitely had her attention now. Whatever downsides came with being a prince, one benefit included the ability to command attention when he wanted it at least. "Some of the things I told you were true, Thaliniel," he clarified, his voice quiet. "I _do_ keep the ledgers for my father. I have been doing it for years…and I detest it."

"Then why keep doing it?" she asked, not unkindly. "I am sure there are other elves who could do the same job."

Legolas groaned. It really did sound all so simple when she said it, but the truth was ever so more complicated. How could he help her see past the glamour of the title and crown to see the true burden of his lineage, of the expectations set upon him? "You don't understand, Thaliniel. My father—" Words failed him.

"Then help me understand," she said, and without thinking, reached for his hand. She wanted to forgive him. For all intents and purposes, this was the same elf that she had admired, trusted, and wanted for a friend. His being a prince should not change the way she felt about him.

"I trained for the forest guard when I was younger," Legolas began. "In truth, it was all I really ever wanted to do. But before the induction and oath ceremony, my father called me to his study. He requested that I not join that year—he just feared for my safety, and would I mind waiting?" Legolas cut his eyes over to the elleth before continuing in a flat voice. "That was over four hundred years ago. In the meantime, he has increased my duties at court—vendor ledgers, tax collections, finances, not to mention the deadly boredom of all the diplomatic meetings and appearances."

The prince shook his head in disgust. "Do not misunderstand me, Thaliniel. I love my father—dearly—but…"

"Legolas," she said quietly. "Do you not believe—" but he cut her off.

"Say that again," he requested, his eyes deepening.

"What?" Thaliniel said, unable to fathom where to look. His gaze overpowered her, and he still held onto her hand.

"You said my name," he said with a tiny smile. "'Tis so much better than being called by my horse's name." He had no idea why hearing his name, his real name, upon her lips could have such an effect over him, but just then it did, and despite the misery of their conditions, Legolas wanted to kiss her right then and there.

Of course, he did not do any such thing. For starters, royal princes did _not_ kiss young maidens in trees, especially young maidens with soft brown, trusting eyes. He was supposed to be helping her! Not wooing her! Legolas mentally chided himself _again_ for his ridiculous behavior. He had been acting the fool ever since first meeting her—nay, ever since he read her "Wanderlust" story.

"The rain has cleared up," he said and stared at her fingers interlocked with his own, before gently releasing her hand. "We should leave. I am sure we will find your sister and the other elves in Dale. It would be the most logical place for them to stop during the storm."

"Good idea," she answered with a sigh of relief. He was undoubtedly the most intense young elf she had ever met. Those eyes! If she were not careful, they would be the undoing of her.

Both the elves slid down from out of the tree, their hearts gladdened to see the return of their horses as they trotted in from over the next hill. The storm had broken, leaving the sky awash in brilliant blue, and in the distance, Thaliniel could see the jagged line of rooftops and curls of smoke from tall chimneys. Dale. Surely she would find Narylfiel there and could return home.

She cast her eyes over to the prince, who had restrung his bow and mounted his horse, looking more maddeningly handsome than any elf had any right to look. How could she have not before noticed his glorious resemblance to the elven king? She undoubtedly needed to be more careful with her feelings concerning him; Locien, the accountant, she might have had a chance pursuing, but Legolas, the prince? Forget it. Never mind that he looked like he wanted to kiss her earlier. Thaliniel quickly squashed the warm glow accompanying that thought. He was far too dangerous for his own good, and seemingly unaware of it to boot, which was even worse! No, she needed to focus on finding her sister and returning home safely. Home was where they both belonged.

But Thaliniel could not help but remember that quick warm glow and the look in the prince's eyes, and if she were honest with herself, the longing in her heart had very little to do with returning home.

* * *

Author's note: Please review! The next chapter could include: scenes from Narylfiel, Legolas getting in a bar fight?!, Thranduil leaving the palace, Legolas lies again? or more Legolas/Thaliniel moments? Let your preferences be known! Who knows what might happen?


	10. The Lusty Lion

**Author's note to the awesomeness of my readers who reviewed the last chapter:**

**Merry: First, lovin' the penname. Second, your wish is my command!**

**Charmelaucium: It's time for the prince to get his hands dirty in this chapter! Muah ha ha!**

**Aranel Mereneth: A longer chapter-just for you! And more L/T on the way...**

**LotR-HP-PJ: True confessions-I have watched the new trailer too many times to count. And I LOVE the actors' reactions to the fans! So cute!**

**Starfire341: Thank you for your continued support! I tried to bring in as much as I could into this chapter, but I had to leave one scene out... **

**Legolas-fan: Welcome to the story! I hope I'll hear more from you after this chapter!**

**ilovevolleyball: Thanks for the love on the last chapter, and more Thranduil will be included, as requested! I am just loving him more and more!**

**EzmeetheHedgehog: No, she hasn't forgiven him completely yet, but those big puppy dog eyes _are_ hard to resist. I liked your suggestion about Narylfiel-it was something I was actually considering doing-to make the big reveal at the end be more climactic.**

**SleepyHollow 5: I am glad that you like Legolas and Thaliniel together, although no lip-lock moments yet! They're still figuring out their chemistry.**

**Miss Les Paul: More Thranduil coming up! And ditto the screaming like a fangirl when I watched the trailer! :D**

**SeriyaSilvermist: Don't worry-my evil side totally wanted to see Legolas get in a bar fight too! Its my guilty pleasure to throw him into the most awkward/difficult possible situations**

**Arwegornandfeowyn: I loved your last review. It made me super happy. I really liked the image of them sitting together in the tree. Maybe Legolas' best moments of inspiration happen in trees... **

* * *

_Wanderlust_

Chapter Ten: The Lusty Lion

Thranduil, as he strapped on his dark leather vambraces, reminded himself that he really loved his son, but for the life of him, he could scarcely fathom what had gotten into Legolas lately. Even as an elfling, Legolas had always been a model child—always doing what was asked of him, always honest to a fault. Thranduil had thanked his lucky stars that he had never been saddled with a mischievous son, for he had heard stories of the many exploits of Lord Elrond's twin boys. So why now? Why would Legolas make up a story about checking accounts at one of the vineyards to sneak away from the palace and go somewhere else, to go on some deranged bender?

Thranduil knew Legolas was capable of defending himself, but still he worried for his son's safety. It was not as if the prince had very much experience outside of the palace, and the thought occurred to Thranduil, that perhaps that was the very crux of the matter. He rubbed his temple and smoothed his hair away from his forehead. Thranduil could still remember when he had been a young ellon of Legolas' age, wanting to prove himself.

Galadhor appeared at the door, bowing and then joining the king's side to reluctantly hand him his travel cloak. "My king, you know that I have already sent out guards to find Prince Legolas. Please reconsider leaving the palace."

"My mind rests easy knowing that you will be here to officiate, Galadhor," Thranduil said, clapping his chief of staff on the back. "I trust you to keep things running smoothly until I return."

"But Your Majesty…" Galadhor said and swallowed audibly at the subtle warning in Thranduil's eyes.

"At the end of the day, Legolas is _my_ son, Galadhor," Thranduil reminded him as he drew on his sword belt and buckled it.

As one of the king's most trusted hands in the palace, Galadhor had a long history with the elven king; he knew Thranduil trusted him implicitly. Still, it was never easy to disagree with any of the House of Oropher; he knew Thranduil to be fair, but at the same time incredibly formidable.

Galadhor picked up the king's sword and handed it to him with a bow of his head. "I will see it done, King Thranduil," he said.

Now fully outfitted in much more subdued garments than he usually favored, Thranduil turned with a swish of his dark green cloak and headed out the door with Galadhor trailing behind. The king would leave with a small contingent of his personal guards and track down the prince himself, planning on having a _very_ stern talking to with his son when he found him.

* * *

It had been no small feat for Thaliniel and Prince Legolas to navigate the muddy, washed out road to Dale, and eventually they were forced to travel along the upper ridge of the valley. What normally would have been a simple hour's distance took them thrice as long. Eventually, however, the pair of elves made it to the gate of the city walls. Hoods pulled up on the both of them, Legolas spoke to the sentry at the gate, while Thaliniel tried to look nonchalant behind him.

After they gained admittance, they stabled their horses, with Legolas leaving a generous tip to ensure the best treatment and their continued anonymity.

"I wager that our Imladris 'friends' will have sought the shelter of one of the inns or taverns nearby," Legolas guessed quietly to Thaliniel who kept close to him.

The city of Dale was as every bit as bright and gleaming against the backdrop of the Lonely Mountain as Thaliniel had heard, but even the best of towns had their fair share of disreputable streets. Dale was no exception to the rule, and Thaliniel wondered out loud to Legolas why all of the men and women looked so rough, cutthroat even.

"This is the rougher side of Dale, Thaliniel. The elves from Imladris, they were more than just traders; I'm afraid they were up to some scheme for their Lord Elrond. I said as much to one of them, and he all but confirmed it. I do not believe they will wish to draw attention to themselves," Legolas said and gestured to one of the inns at the end of the street, _The Lusty Lion_. "Let's inquire here first."

Thaliniel looked askance at the sign. "Here, Legolas?" she all but squeaked. "As in, go in there?" Even from the street, she could hear raucous laughter and shouting.

The prince eyed the sign again. "Look, I know it is hardly a genteel establishment, Thaliniel, but the other option is to leave you outside alone, which I cannot allow. Just keep close to me, and whatever you do, leave your hood up. With your height, most men will think you a lad, not a lady." He helped her adjust her hood, then pushed the door open.

Legolas tried his best to hide his disdain from the free-wheeling lecherous crowd inhabiting _The Lusty Lion._ A crowd of men and dwarves filled the tables, leered at the scantily clad serving wenches, and the prince more than regretted his earlier idea of coming here. They maneuvered their way to the bar, where Legolas politely asked the barkeep if he had recently seen any elves.

The barman sputtered. "Seen any elves? Ha! Drinks first, questions later!"

Legolas ordered two pints, both of which went untouched, and asked again, this time more directly, his voice assertive. "I am looking for several dark-haired elves. Have you seen them?"

"Most elves wouldn't step foot in _The Lusty Lion_, my boy!" The barman laughed.

"That is all we needed to know," Legolas said shortly, and he turned to leave.

Thaliniel tried not to make eye contact with the grizzled man slumped on a bar stool next to her, but as she turned, his hand caught the hem of her sleeve, and he grinned at her with all seven of his protruding teeth. "'Ere now, you and your friend haven't touched your pints. Too good to be drinking with the likes of us, eh?"

"We must be moving on," Legolas replied, his eyes beginning to gleam with a cold fire.

The man deliberately wrapped his fingers around Thaliniel's wrist. "And I want to see your lad drink his pint!" he bellowed.

The riotous noise of the bar drummed down to a painful silence, save for the sound of chairs creaking across the floor as the other men turned and faced the two newcomers.

All eyes watched the two hooded figures.

Legolas spoke calmly, but anyone who knew him well would have instantly shrunk from the icy chill of his words. "You will unhand my friend. Now."

Thaliniel locked eyes with the prince and slowly picked up the pint. He imperceptibly nodded.

What happened next became the stuff of legend—the day that Legolas Thranduillion got into a bar room brawl.

Thaliniel, quick as a whip, tossed the contents of the pint in her captor's face. Following his utter surprise and outrage, she ripped her arm free from his grasp, and in the next two seconds, Legolas had closed the distance and pulled the man, face dripping, up from his seat by his collar.

"We'll be leaving now," he hissed. "Do not presume to interfere with our departure again."

Unfortunately, the prince's hood had fallen down during his riveting performance, revealing him to all in the bar for the elf he was.

"Grimble," one of the dwarves in the next table yelled, "are you going to let this wee pointy-eared buck stroll in here and speak to you like that?"

Grimble, who felt the full measure of the prince's elven grip and felt his keen piercing gaze, did not reply.

Legolas cocked a wild eye at the slovenly dwarf. "Speak not, dwarf. Lest I find myself forced to find you a suitable hole to return to."

Every single dwarf in the building howled at the insult.

Thaliniel inched closer to the prince. "Em, Legolas. We should leave. Now," she whispered, worried to find herself the recipient of so many dark looks from the many patrons of _The Lusty Lion_.

Legolas released Grimble who sank back down on his seat with a chuff, but just as both elves turned to leave, one of the dwarves heaved a chair at the back of the prince's head. He easily ducked, and the chair crashed into Grimble. The nasty older man snapped his head toward Thaliniel, assuming she had thrown the chair into him, and he backhanded her across her cheek.

The world swirled black for a second as Thaliniel pitched to the side from the force of the man's blow. Her hood fell back, and more than a few men in the bar gasped to see that the pointy-eared elf's companion was no lad, but a beautiful lady.

Chaos erupted. Some of the men, including the barkeeper, yelled at Grimble for striking a lady. The dwarves bellowed at the insult of elves daring to show their faces in their favorite bar. Meanwhile, Legolas had already picked up Grimble and slammed his head so hard against the side of the wooden bar that the man might have a permanent notch in his forehead. Then the elf quickly sidestepped one of the dwarf's punches and countered with a jab that had his opponent sailing backwards across the table.

Legolas glared at the remaining dwarves and drew one of his knives in a slow, threatening screech from his scabbard and then the other.

Several of the dwarves produces axes and other various vicious looking weapons of their own.

"Enough!" boomed a voice from the opposite corner of the bar, so loud that dwarves and elves turned alike to see the source. He stood, cloaked in shadow, but his eyes held a fierce glint that could be marked by all. "Spare me from the stubbornness of dwarves and the pride of elves," he remarked tiredly. "Georn and Tilde," he said, addressing two of the remaining dwarves, "your fathers will be looking for you to come home soon. In one piece!" he barked. "Off with you now." Looking oddly sheepish, the dwarves and their companions slunk away the scene, battleaxes in tow, bestowing rather dark looks at the prince as they left.

Legolas turned to leave as well, wrapping a gentle arm around Thaliniel's waist to steady her.

"Not so quick, young Thranduillion," the voice from the back of the room commanded.

Legolas stiffened.

"Oh, yes!" the man laughed now. "I know exactly who you are. Now come and buy me a drink, and I may just tell you where to find what you are searching for!"

Legolas shared a glance with Thaliniel. Her face now sported a puffy red streak across her jaw where Grimble had struck her. Legolas suddenly felt like bashing the man's face into the bar for a second time. "I am sorry," he mouthed to her, and he meant it wholeheartedly. Every single aspect of their adventure had proven disastrous so far, and if the man smoking in the back corner booth had any way of helping their cause, Legolas would gladly buy him a round or two.

* * *

Please Review! Who is this mystery person in the back corner booth of _The Lusty Lion_? And how will he help our friends? Thanks for all the great input on the last chapter! I look forward to hearing more ideas!


	11. Whispers of Shadow

**Trollalalala: Legolas loved all of your comments, despite your unhealthy dwarf bias. ;)**

**sazza-da-vampire: Hey! I'm so glad to have you reading my new story! I remember you reviewing from Building Ithilien! Welcome, welcome!**

**Charmelaucium: Yes, this stranger will be helpful! and more interesting developments to follow!**

**Iluvvolleyball: I have seen that picture also (the one you mentioned). Definite Kili angst there. You've read how the Hobbit ends, right? I adore that book! But Tolkien could have managed better on the ending-that's all I'm saying.**

**starfire341: I'm so glad you enjoyed the bar fight! I got pretty tickled writing that!**

**LotR-HP-PJ: You were really the only one who guessed the identity of the mystery stranger correctly! Bonus Elf points to you! Hurray! I never really have written this particular character before, and this was my way of a shameless cameo!**

**Arwegornandfeowyn: Thanks again! Your reviews always make me feel like a million bucks! And then I get like all super-inspired and want to write another quacktastic chapter!**

**Seriya Silvermist: Yes! More Legolas/Thaliniel quality time coming up in this chapter and the next. They're still trying to figure each other out, ya know?**

**SleepyHollow5: Okay, I seriously LOVED your last chapter. I know I said that already, but I had to say it again! I'm super excited now that they're both in M.E.! **

**And a BIG thank you to Jedi Ani Unduli for adding _Wanderlust_ to her C2 'All Around the Universe.'**

* * *

Chapter Eleven: Whispers of Shadow

Between the wreaths of smoke across the bar and the flickering candelabras, the elven prince could scarcely discern the dim outline of the man who had not only stopped the fight between him and the dwarves, but also possessed the boldness to call upon him as the son of Thranduil.

"Who are you, and how did you know my name?" Legolas inquired softly.

The old traveler glanced up from his pipe and furrowed a pair of bushy eyebrows at the prince. " I rendered aid to your father after the fall of Doriath and have been a regular enough visitor to his halls for his only son to recognize me I should think, or my name is not Gandalf."

Mithrandir," Legolas exclaimed. "I hardly recognized you!"

"That much is obvious, Legolas, and since when have the courts of King Thranduil become so ungallant that the prince neglects to introduce his lady?" Gandalf challenged.

Legolas' cheeks colored a rosy hue, and he bade Thaliniel to take a seat next to the old wizard as he explained, "Gandalf, this is Thaliniel. She and I are together." He caught himself and clarified, "Not 'together.'" He stumbled over his words, "I mean we're traveling together-"

Thaliniel rescued him, secretly loving the violent hue now staining the prince's cheeks. "Legolas volunteered to help me find my younger sister," she explained. "We believe she stowed away in a wagon belonging to some elves from Rivendell."

"Ah, which brings us to the crux of the matter," Gandalf surmised, steepling his fingers together. He had very much enjoyed the interplay between the two young elves, and Legolas was undoubtedly smitten with this elleth. He smiled to himself and wondered if Thranduil knew.

"I just happen to know where the elves you seek are bound," the crafty old wizard stated.

"Do you know for sure?" asked Thaliniel anxiously. They already had to be so far behind the Rivendell elves.

"Of course," assured Gandalf, his eyes taking on a knowing gleam, "for I am the one who told Lord Elrond that the task must be done."

"What are they after precisely?"sked Legolas.

"I dare not speak of it out loud," Gandalf began, "but I have warned the White Council of a growing threat deep in the Grey Mountains. Whispers of death and blood on the northern roads have reached my ears."

Both Thaliniel and Legolas shared a worried glance.

"Lord Elrond agreed that if my suspicions were correct than we must not allow this threat to fester. He dispatched some of his best warriors to travel there, gather intelligence, and act if necessary."

Gandalf cleared his throat and signaled for another drink before leaning toward the prince, his voice a whisper. "Take the upper River Road leaving Dale. I am certain you can reach them before they reach Luin's Landing. The storm washed out the bridge, which would surely delay their crossing. You should spend the night in Dale and strike out tomorrow—of course, do not stay here. _The Lusty Lion_ is no place for well-bred ladies, young prince." He wagged a finger at Legolas.

"By the way, what are YOU doing here?" Legolas asked mischievously and laughed.

"Ah," Gandalf answered vaguely, "I had a hunch that I would run into someone interesting tonight, and here you are, my dear lad." Only Gandalf could get away with addressing an elven prince 'lad'. "Come to think of it, I booked a room at a lovely establishment two blocks away, _The Raven Inn_, but now that I've met you so conveniently, I find that I no longer have need of it." He tossed the room key to Legolas, who caught it between his fingers. "Oh, and it would probably be best if you two shared it, since you are 'together'. He winked at Legolas. "A single lady should not be left alone, unguarded," he added with a stern look at the prince.

Thaliniel found herself unable to make eye contact with Legolas, and the prince's ears turned a charming shade of scarlet.

* * *

Two blocks later, the couple found themselves in already a much nicer, cleaner inn. Legolas signed the pair of them into the visitor log as a married couple under his former alias, Locien. The room was sparsely furnished, but comfortable and clean, with a well-swept hearth, neat rug, and finely stuffed four poster bed.

Legolas, noticing Thaliniel's discomfort, took the lead and settled onto the rug before the hearth, dropping his bag with an exaggerated sigh. She took her place beside him, stretching out a pair of long lean legs as the prince took it upon himself to light the fire.

Once lit, Legolas turned and studied her, concerned about the red mark on her face from where she had been struck in the bar fight. "I'm sure the swelling will go down tonight," he assured Thaliniel, and gently grazed his thumb along the offending streak.

She nodded gratefully and chuckled. "It certainly could have turned out much worse for the both of us, had your friend Gandalf not stepped in when he did!" She tried very much not to dwell on the rush of feelings accompanying the prince's gentle touch just now, or admire the way his hair and eyes both gleamed in the firelight.

"Look, Thaliniel. You should rest," he said, gesturing to the bed.

She stifled a snort. "I most certainly am _not_ sleeping in the bed, while the crown prince of Mirkwood sleeps on a rug!" Sure, the bed looked extremely welcoming, but he was the prince for crying out loud!

"It would be most unchivalrous of me to allow otherwise, my lady," Legolas protested. "I insist."

Now, the notion of sharing the bed was not brought up nor mentioned at any time, but Legolas certainly thought of it. What red-blooded young male wouldn't, especially when paired with such a desirable young woman? From the moment he had entered the room, that large bed loomed like an unspoken oliphant in his mind. He briefly entertained the thought of pulling her into his arms between the cool, crisp sheets with her soft, dark hair fanned out across the pillow…

Legolas felt his ears heat up and then instantly chastised himself for thinking of such a thing in the first place. Most importantly, he had taken on the role as her protector, acting for all intents and purposes as her guardian for the time being. Her innocence was his to protect. Beyond that, Legolas admitted to himself that his art of seduction only ever figured prominently in his own imagination. Mostly he never had much opportunity for practice in his father's palace; half of the ladies there frankly scared him, and the other half were more than willing volunteers.

He wisely decided to drop the topic of sleeping arrangements for the moment, and turned the conversation to something that had been on his mind for some time now.

Legolas pulled the folded piece of parchment from the bottom of his bag. "I have a confession to make," he began.

Thaliniel favored him with an incredulous look. "Another confession? Wait—you are not Legolas, but really the king himself?"

The prince actually rolled his eyes. "No," he said with a quick grin at her. "There was another reason I left my father's halls—beyond just being fed up with court life."

"What happened?" she asked, genuinely wanting to understand him, curious now about the piece of paper he held between his fingers.

"I found this," he explained, gesturing to the parchment, "right in the middle of the annual reports from the vineyards." He looked at her curiously, his eyes deepening as he began to read:

"_Wanderlust. I feel it keenly in the air I breathe, in the sound of the water rushing by the fields, deep in my bones when I rise in the morning."_

Thaliniel's eyes widened in surprise, but she did not stop him, so lost she was in the timbre of his voice, reading words that she had written, the very desires of her heart.

"_Oh, to be an ellon to join the forest guard, traveling to the ends of the forest, to lands far and unknown! To ride unfettered, flying, face in the wind, gusted by exhilaration, surfeited by every imagined desire unleashed. _

_Free."_

He paused long enough to see that she had gone very pale, followed by two bright spots of color on her cheeks. "Where…how?" she gasped at last.

His eyes softened and he set the parchment in question down between them. "Thaliniel," he said quietly. "This was mixed in with the annual report from your father. Remember the missing page? Your writing was in its place—and the moment I read it, I knew I had to meet its author. I had to meet _you_."

Thaliniel picked up the parchment and stared blankly at the words she had written, words that apparently had brought the crown prince of Mirkwood to her doorstep. It was a little hard to digest. She could remember the night so clearly when she had put the report together and must have mixed in one of her personal pages by accident.

She abruptly stood and walked over to the small round window in their room.

"Why?" she croaked out at last, suddenly feeling very shy in his presence—like her deepest secrets had all just been exposed, which for the most part they had.

The prince picked himself up off the floor and joined her at the window, where he could see the first stars were just starting to shine in the night sky. He wanted to reach for her hand, to hold it, to hold her, but instead, he crossed his arms behind his back.

"Your words so perfectly captured the way I felt—of wanting to be free, to see the world? Like you had held a mirror to my soul," Legolas admitted, not ashamed, but desperately wanting her to understand what he saw in her.

"I guess I have a case of 'wanderlust' too," he joked.

She turned and faced him, grateful for his small attempt at humor.

"I remember the night when I wrote those lines, so vividly," she said, pulling her long braid over her shoulder. Her eyes were distant. "I had a terrible argument with my father over the future," she recalled out loud. "I had built up all these dreams of things I wanted to do, longed to see and experience." She gave a short, bitter laugh.

"And your father?" Legolas asked, commiserating.

Thaliniel pulled away from the window and met his eyes. Her words felt thick in her throat. "He wanted to arrange a marriage between me and Barathion, the son of his dearest friend."

* * *

_*Raider-k dodges flying rotten tomatoes thrown from readers for yet another cliff-hanger* Dun, dun, dun! _

_Okay, so our super cute couple are shacked up together! What should happen next? Legolas freaks out about Thaliniel's possible engagement? Or does he play it cool? Will he ever make a move? And what happens when they leave Dale? Cross swords with bandits? More dwarven encounters?_

_Thank you for reading! Please help me get to over 100 reviews! Woot!_


	12. Fire Circles

**Petkt: I am glad you joined the FF community! Welcome! And I am glad that you have enjoyed my portrayal of the elves so far. **

**Flyingcheese143: Legolas baked these cookies just for you. *hands over Fudge stripe cookies* Hey, it's a well known truth-elves can make great cookies.**

**Tierney Greyleaf: I am so glad you've joined my story, and I hope to hear more from you! **

**Charmelaucium: *Ding, ding ding!* YOU are the 100th reviewer! *confetti rains down* Legolas would like to present you with this special certificate and a book of coupons that he made himself for free hugs.**

**Aranel Merenath: Yes... I agree the chapters are too short. If I were one of my own readers I would be throwing stuff at the screen for that and the cliffhangers too! ;) But here is a quick fluffy update that will hopefully make up for how I left off things last time...**

**Seriya Silvermist: Good question about the where this story falls on the LotR timeline. This story takes place while Thror still controlled the Lonely Mountain and Dale was still standing. On the overall timeline, that's roughly two hundred years before _The Hobbit_ takes place.**

**ilovevolleyball: I agree with you that Legolas would TRY to play it cool. He doesn't want to give away too much about how he's feeling. **

**LotR-HP-PJ: Thanks again for great reviews and support (and being my #1 best guesser at my lame clues!) ;)**

**starfire341: I had already started writing this next scene when I read your review and I laughed, because what you said really went along with what I thought. BUT sometimes how I think a scene will play out doesn't always go according to plan. Legolas' reaction here surprised me too.**

**Arwegornandfeowyn: THanks for always appreciating my humor! I felt like we needed more time for a few more laughs, so this chapter pretty much wrote itself while I was cooking dinner!**

**Sleepyhollow5: No more coffee for you, missy! *snatches cup away.* No, seriously though. What would we do in a world without caffeine?! (like your character Maya. poor thing. I feel for her loss.)**

**Thank you for everyone who reviewed and helped me get over the 100 mark! Hurray! This super fluffy chapter is for YOU!**

* * *

_Wanderlust_

Chapter Twelve: Fire Circles

Legolas stepped back involuntarily, almost as if he had been struck. His face mottled between shades of pink and red, and then he let out a snort, followed by an outright, very unprincelike guffaw of laughter.

"Barathion?" he exclaimed, as he doubled over between laughs. "That young whelp that came to visit the night at dinner? The one Narylfiel scared away with her mad talk of killer owls?"

"Yes," Thaliniel said shortly, not in the least bit amused by the prince's levity. It was _not _funny!

"Excuse me," begged the prince, and he turned away from her, with one hand on the wall to steady himself.

"I can still see your shoulders shaking," Thaliniel observed with her hand on the hip, trying not to smile, despite her best efforts.

"I am sorry," Legolas apologized, not sounding sorry in the slightest, as he was still laughing and now clutching his side as he turned back around to face her.

"You do not look very sorry," Thaliniel said with her best effort to sound stern. "Still laughing…and at my expense too! See if you find it half so hilarious when your father arranges _your_ marriage."

Legolas stilled, and Thaliniel felt a little remorseful to see his boyish grin disappear.

"Oh, there is no doubt in my mind that he will do exactly that someday, Thaliniel," Legolas said resignedly. "It is a nasty feeling to have one's future all planned out with absolutely no say in it for yourself. I _am_ sorry that I laughed about your engagement to Barathion—even if he is a little—"

Thaliniel cut him off. "We are _not_ engaged," she said, emphasizing the 'not.' "I told my father in no uncertain terms that I would not marry him—no matter how great it would be for our families to unite our two vineyards." Her eyes flashed.

Legolas smiled grimly. The girl had spunk! "And what did your father say? I know what _mine_ would say and it would probably have something to do with tossing me in the dungeons until I agreed."

Thaliniel looked appropriately shocked. Her mouth actually dropped open for a moment until she noticed the glimmer in the prince's eyes and realized he was teasing her.

"Very funny, Legolas. You are just quite the jokester tonight, are you not?"

He performed a mock bow. "If it pleases you, my lady." Then he reached for her hand and pulled her closer, his hand so warm around hers. He led her back toward the rug before the hearth and pulled her down to sit beside him once more, only this time much closer. Close enough that she could rest her head on his shoulder if she chose to do so. "Now," he said, his eyes earnest, "tell me what your father said."

"He was very angry. Understandably so," she said regretfully. "He told me that the matter was far from finished and that I should learn my place in his household."

"Listen to me, Thaliniel," Legolas said, catching her chin on his fingertip, so her eyes met his. "You are worth a dozen Barathions."

Suddenly the air between them felt so heavy, like Legolas needed to breathe and forgot how. He cleared his throat and released her chin, choosing to look toward the dancing flames of the hearth, rather than be consumed in the liquid depths of his friend's eyes.

"Perhaps when all this is done, Thaliniel, you should visit the palace. If your father wishes you to make an advantageous alliance, then my father's halls are the place to do so, not the dusty rows of a vineyard." Legolas said quickly, and as soon as the words had left his lips, he wished he could retract them. Thaliniel did not belong to court life. She was far too sweet, too innocent. The elves there would devour her like a butterfly among spiders!

But Thaliniel missed the look of regret crossing the prince's face, and her eyes began to gleam. "Oh, Legolas," she exclaimed, excitedly catching him by the arm. "Do you mean it? Because visiting the palace is on my list!"

Legolas raised an eyebrow. "Your list?"

Thaliniel colored ever so slightly. "I…happen to have made a list," she explained as she drew a circle in the thick nap of the rug with the pad of her finger, "of all the places and things I want to see and experience."

"I see..." said Legolas suspiciously. "You know, between you and your sister, I was sure you were the saner of the two. Now I am not so certain."

"I _do_ try and live up to my name," Thaliniel insisted, but just at that moment, a knock on the door caught them quite off guard, and Legolas sprang up to open it. His eyes lit up.

"I ordered us a light repast," he explained.

A young man brought in a tray of towering turkey legs, a pitcher of mulled wine, berries, and some greens. Thaliniel pointed to the column of steaming meat on the tray, which seemed bent on falling over at any second, so great was the height of the pile.

"A light repast?" she stated. "This is a little much, isn't it?"

"Even runaway princes still like to eat well," he explained with a shrug and lifted off the first leg eagerly. "And I can hardly have you starving under my care, can I?"

She grinned. "It _would _ be exceedingly bad form, I suppose."

"So what else is on that list?" Legolas asked curiously. He would love to know. This elleth was full of surprises.

"Well, a few of them have already come to pass," she explained, "but there are ever so many that have not, like visiting the Misty Mountains, seeing Rivendell, attending one of the Fire Circles in Mirkwood—"

A spray of mulled wine erupted from the prince's lips. "What!?" he cried, his head snapping toward her. His eyes had to be every bit as large as the enormous turkey leg he held.

"The Fire Circles in your own forest," she clarified. "I have heard about them, so I want to go to one some day."

Legolas was already emphatically shaking his head 'no.' "No, no, Thaliniel. Trust me. You do NOT want to attend one of the Fire Circles."

She tilted her head. "Why ever not? Dancing in the forest and a big bonfire sounds fun…"

Legolas was still shaking his head and now his turkey leg as well for good measure. "No, not fun. Thaliniel, no. You would not have a good time. They are too…wild," he explained, deliberately self-editing how he would have truly described those festivities. None of the words that came to mind seemed proper for a young lady's ears.

"We shall see," teased Thaliniel in a sing-song lilt of her voice.

"Not if I can stop it," Legolas muttered darkly.

"Well, have _you_ been to one?" she asked suddenly, watching his face.

He blushed. "Well, as the Prince of Mirkwood, I am expected to make appearances on certain occasions, from time to time," he said with an air of finality, hoping to end this line of conversation.

"I understand," said Thaliniel, although her tone seemed to say the opposite. She had loosened the tie on her hair and had started to unbraid it. "When was your first time to go?"

Legolas looked at her from the corner of his eye. "I first attended on the occasion of my 100th name day celebration." He took another gulp of wine.

"So Legolas can attend, but I cannot?" She tsked, tsked. "That seems a tad hypocritical, don't you think?" She looked at him directly and now it was her turn to arch her eyebrow at him, which she did every bit as elegantly as the prince.

Legolas buried his face in hands. "Why do I get the feeling that we are not talking about fire circles any more?" he groaned.

Thaliniel smiled a secret smile and let the matter drop. The prince and the maiden spent the rest of the evening in easy conversation with both freely teasing each other. When sleep finally claimed them, the pair were sprawled out across the rug in front of the hearth, with her cheek propped upon his shoulder. Every single turkey leg had been devoured.

* * *

And I didn't end on a cliff-hanger! Aren't you guys proud of me? Now that I've indulged my fluffy side, get ready! The next chapter will be full of action and peril!

So I've been meaning to throw this on for a while, some meanings to the names I've used in the story thus far.

Narylfiel: fire brand

Thaliniel: Dauntless

Barathion: Enthusiastic

Locien: Dragon


	13. Under His Protection

**I loved all of your responses from the previous chapter! **

**Sazza-da-Vampire: Ah, those fire circles...something about them just doesn't sit right with Legolas. More on the fire circles later, I promise! ;) Thank you for reviewing! **

**Seriya Silvermist: You know, I hadn't really even planned on having any mention of them waking up together until you put the thought in my head...and then it was just too delicious to resist! So, thank you!**

**Justwritingforfun: Thranduil wasn't even _supposed_ to be in this chapter. But...when he read your review, he just insisted on being included. So there. I actually really enjoy writing him as a character, and I cannot wait to see how they play his character in the upcoming movie! Squee!**

**flyingcheese143: Action and Peril, coming up! I hope you didn't mind too much having too wait longer for this next chapter. But it IS pretty long-almost 9 pages. **

**Pergjishthme: Okay, I really love the reviews you left so far! So darn cute! and funny! I like seeing those kind of honest, gut reactions. **

**Starfire341: You will be so proud of me again-tried not to end in cliff hanger. Although I was SO tempted to at several different times! Oh, the agony! But I thought of you, dear reader, and refrained.**

**EzmeetheHedgehog: I am so tickled that you liked the most recent chapters, and per your request (and his insistance) I have included some Thranduil!**

**Charmelaucium: Oh, dear. I see that it's been like 9 days since I last updated. BUT hopefully this action-packed, perilicious (yes, that's right I said 'perilicious') chapter will make up for the delay.**

**Tierney Greenleaf: Okay. So I know you voted for action and peril as long as no one dies, but... what is good peril without chance of death? Muah ha ha! **

**Arwegornandfeowyn:More humor, romance, and PERIL on the way! I'm mixing it up all together into one big bowl of exciting chapter deliciousness-just for you!**

**SleepyHollow5: Legolas would like to find her better suitors (exactly like himself, although he's too dorky to admit it). Barathion is such a junior mint (and oh, he might make another appearance in this chapter.)**

**Petkt: Welcome, new reader! I am so glad you've started reading the story and hope to hea**r from you again! (like after this chapter? Puh-lease?) :)

* * *

Chapter Thirteen: Under His Protection

The elves rode out early before dawn as the stars still gleamed like tiny white nephredil in the night sky. The pair traveled side by side, but occasionally Legolas would permit his horse to fall back ever so slightly so that he might have the opportunity to look upon his companion unawares. During one of these times, Legolas hid a secret grin as he recalled what had happened earlier this morning when he had woken up next to Thaliniel, her head resting on his shoulder. Her hair had pressed silkily and fragrant against his cheek, and even though he knew he should have woken her at once, a small, selfish part of him stayed his hand from rousing her from where she rested, soft and warm with sleep, curled up next to his side.

Of course, he eventually did wake her, and as much as he delighted in the feel of her next to him, the sight of her scrambling up from the rug red-faced was equally pleasing. Fire circles, indeed! If an early morning snuggle had her face brighter than a beet, then she had no business seeking out fire circles.

"What are you smirking about then?" Thaliniel asked, finally noticing the smug grin on the prince's face. Even in the early darkness before dawn, she could spot those self-satisfied dimples from several feet away.

"I am thinking that once your father hears about you sleeping with the Prince of Mirkwood, he will have to cancel your engagement to Barathion," Legolas teased.

"Oh, but I was overcome by the prince's powerful way with…turkey legs," Thaliniel said and laughed. "I still cannot believe you ate that entire platter full of them."

"I seem to recall that you contributed greatly to their demise as well," Legolas insisted, "and I practically had to fight you for the last one."

Thaliniel narrowed her eyes at him. "And for the last time, I am _not_ engaged to Barathion!" she reminded him. "He would have a fit if he knew I was out on the open road like this, having an adventure—with the prince, no less! His idea of peril is getting caught out in the open rain."

"Or very large owls," snickered the prince.

Neither Thaliniel nor Legolas had any notion, of course, that Barathion had actually heard of their little escapade, and from a source that neither expected.

* * *

Thranduil, King of the Woodland Realm, waited impatiently atop his charger while Beriadan, the Captain of the Royal Guard, had spoken with the overseer of Faendol. Part of Thranduil very much wanted to charge over there right now and take matters into his own hands, but he also knew the value in letting Beriadan handle the questioning. For some reason, people seemed to become intimidated in Thranduil's presence, probably because he was the king and undoubtedly because he had carefully cultivated a fierce reputation for himself. Oh, Thranduil knew he outright scared most folks and that usually came in quite handy, but right now all he felt was annoyance. He drummed his fingers on his leg and then looked sharply at his guard flanking his right side who had begun to whistle. The guard caught his eye and abruptly stopped mid-whistle.

Beriadan returned, eyes gleaming. "Your majesty, if you would walk with me toward the house, I have some very interesting information to share."

Thranduil nodded and dismounted, moving away from the rest of the guards so that he and Beriadan could speak privately. "Tell me, Captain, what you have learned."

"The master of this vineyard, Belchuil, left several days ago for a trading venture during the market days at Estodell. He has two young daughters, and his sister helps with the management of the household. Now, as far as I can understand, a messenger from the palace visited the vineyard arrived two days after Belchuil left."

Thranduil frowned. "A messenger? But the only one who might have visited would be Legolas—oh." Sudden understanding dawned on his face, and he glanced down toward the house where the overseer still waited on the front steps, watching their exchange curiously.

Beriadan leaned in. "The messenger told them that his name was Locien, your highness."

"His horse's name?" Thranduil almost rolled his eyes, but to do so would be most unkingly. His horse's name, indeed.

"However misguided, the prince's actions may have been, he does you credit, King Thranduil."

"Does he?" Thranduil questioned tiredly.

"The youngest daughter disappeared the day before yesterday, and Legolas not only aided in the search of the grounds, according to the overseer, but left with the older daughter in order to search for her." Beriadan informed him, gesturing toward the road leaving the estate.

Thranduil smiled grimly. "He always had a tender heart," he told the Captain. "He would venture into a hailstorm to save a kitten."

Beriadan cut his eyes to the king. "If I may be so bold, sire, he reminds me of you."

Thranduil straightened and laughed, a single note. "No, he has his mother's heart," the king disagreed.

As Thranduil and Beriadan discussed their next move, a young elf rode in from the front gate. He was slim and dressed simply, and his countenance instantly gave away his immediate alarm to see the gathering of guards all lined up.

"Oh, dear Valar!" he exclaimed, pressing a tidy handkerchief to his open mouth. "I feared as much, although some refused to see the inherent danger!"

Now, the Royal Guard's primary task is to see to and ensure the safety of their king, and the single word 'danger' had every single one of them drawing their long swords or pulling their bowstrings to take aim at the new interloper.

The young elf screeched most unfittingly for an elf of his age and gender as he shrank away from their blades. "Please, I beg of you! Do not harm me! I am Barathion, son of Baros, from the next vineyard over." He cowered in his saddle until the guard members, in agreement that he posed no threat, withdrew their weapons.

"You do not have to explain yourselves," he said authoritatively. "I am sure I know why you are here. I fear I almost had a close encounter with one myself."

Thranduil exchanged an amused look with his captain and came forward. "Close encounter with what, may I ask?"

"Giant Owls," the young elf replied in all seriousness.

The king laughed out right, a seldom occurrence in the palace, but he simply could not contain himself. "Did you say..." he chuckled some more at the incredulous look on his stoic captain's face, "giant owls?"

"Yes. I heard first hand from one of the king's messengers of their dangerous presence in the forest. I greatly fear that their migration to the southern border will endanger our harvest. I am most glad that the king has had the foresight to send his guards to dispatch those foul beings from our trees."

"More like fowl beings…" Thranduil heard one of the guards behind him chuckle, and the king decided to lay the issue to rest before this young elf worked himself into a frenzy.

Thranduil lowered his hood and looked at Barathion directly. "I am King Thranduil, and although I appreciate your diligence and concern for my people's safety, I must assure you that there are no wild, giant owls in the woods, nor have there ever been."

Barathion sputtered for a second and then turned a brilliant shade of red before ducking his head before the king and bowing. "Your majesty, forgive me. I was…misinformed."

"If only there were such a creature as giant owls," Beriadan added, not unkindly. "They might eat some of the giant spiders."

"G-g-giant spiders?" stuttered Barathion.

"We are actually here on behalf of the king's son, Prince Legolas," Beriadan said, and looked for the king's silent approval before saying more. "The prince has lent his help to the young ladies of this vineyard. He offered his protection to Lady Thaliniel who needed assistance in finding her younger sister Naryfiel, who has disappeared."

Barathion's head snapped up, his mouth forming a small circle of open disbelief. "But Lady Thaliniel is my intended! She cannot go traipsing off with princes!"

King Thranduil raised a single eyebrow. He did not appreciate where this was heading. And was there no concern for the lost girl, only his potential mate?

Not entirely without common sense, Barathion sensed that displeasing his majesty would prove exceedingly bad—for him. "Well, nothing is official yet," the younger elf explained, "but she will be my betrothed, some day!"

"I assure you, Barathion, son of Baros, that your Thaliniel is in the best of hands with Prince Legolas," Beriadan said comfortingly as the king turned wordlessly and mounted his horse.

"The prince's hands—that's what worries me," Barathion muttered, darkly eyeing the king's guards as they left in a trail of dust down the eastern road.

* * *

Legolas and Thaliniel both felt rather relieved when the river road finally dipped and descended down to the actual river, a tributary from the Forest River. Although this tributary was an off-shoot from the main river, Legolas knew that it could still prove rather deep and treacherous if underestimated, and unfortunately, the landing and ferry were no where to be seen.

"Most likely washed out by the storm," Legolas observed and moved closer to the river's edge for a better look. The river had calmed considerably, but the current was still swift.

"Do you think you can cross here?" he asked Thaliniel.

"We can lead the horses across the deepest part," she suggested, "and if it gets too rough, I am a good swimmer, probably a better swimmer than his royal highness here."

Legolas scoffed, but was surprised to see Thaliniel cross her arms defiantly.

"What? I probably am," she said and added with a mischievous grin, "You don't think I used that tree by the window all those times to sneak out to go for midnight strolls, did you?"

Legolas eyed her suspiciously. "So you snuck out to go swimming?"

Thaliniel shrugged her shoulders as if to say 'and why not?' but she watched the prince carefully to gauge his reaction.

The prince eyed her with a certain mixture of disbelief and amusement. "And you went on these midnight swims alone?" He hoped.

"Sometimes," she said coyly, her cheeks heating up at the thought of a midnight swim with Legolas, "but I usually went with Barathion—when we were younger."

Legolas' eyebrows shot up. "Well, well!" he replied. "The more I hear of this Barathion, the more it seems as though you two are meant for each other."

Thaliniel repressed the urge to chuck something, anything, at his head. "You do know that being friends with a person of the opposite sex does not necessarily entail having romantic feelings for that person, right?"

Legolas' elegant reply was a single snort. He dismounted from his horse at the edge of the river bank and then moved to help Thaliniel from her horse, which she did easily with little assistance from him.

"Very well then," Legolas agreed reluctantly. "You go out first, and I'll follow. Be careful." He watched her enter the water with ease, expertly cutting across the current with her horse until he was distracted by the unmistakable sound of an arrow being fitted to a bow.

He hesitated and then slowly turned around to find himself outnumbered by four swarthy men, two of whom he recognized from the bar.

"Elves like you don't just show up at _The Lusty Lion_ unless they're up to something," said the one holding the bow, who was presumably their leader.

"You tell 'em, Birlaf," jeered one of the men.

Only a few yards away, Birlaf trained his arrow directly at the prince. "Whatever your plans are, we wants a share of it."

Legolas cut his eyes toward Thaliniel, now nearing the deepest part of the river. A tiny shiver of fear stirred in his heart as he watched her fight the current. This confrontation had the potential to end very poorly. Legolas spoke quickly, desperately trying to school his expression and tone to be very appeasing, "We would gladly share any fortune with you, except I fear you have been sadly misinformed to our purpose. We have neither spoils nor treasure to offer. "

A second man harrumphed loudly. "What about _her_? She's spoils enough, I'd reckon."

The elf's face darkened at the spoken threat. "She is under my protection," he warned them.

"She'll be needing much more than just your protection, _elf_," the same man shot back and pointed to the opposite side of the river. Two more men had appeared on the other side. Thaliniel was trapped.

Legolas let out a disappointed sigh, one that the men heard and mistakenly took for resignation. "Hand over your weapons then, elf."

The prince let his eyes trace Thaliniel's movements in the water one last time and then met the gaze of the men's leader. "I do not believe I shall," Legolas disagreed, now carefully assessing the weapons they each carried.

"Let's kill him and be done with it," one of the bandits growled, and their leader Birlaf seemed to agree. He pulled tight the bowstring and let his arrow fly, directly at the elf's heart. He was a dead man.

At such close range, such a shot should be deadly, but not when considering elven speed and strength, both of which none of these men had ever born witness to before this day. This would be a tale they would grudgingly retell at _The Lusty Lion_ for many years.

The prince dodged the arrow, fluidly arching to the side, and at the last second as the arrow sailed past, he reached out and plucked it from the air.

The other men stared at him, dumb-founded. Did that just really happen? Birlaf, however, only growled and threw down his bow.

"Surrender?" the elf asked as he snapped the arrow in two and tossed it to the side. "Not today." Then he drew his knives, and the real fight began.

Meanwhile Thaliniel had difficulties of her own. One of the bandits had entered the river and headed straight for her. She lightly patted the rump of her horse, telling him to continue across the river. She might not be able to beat this man in a fight, but she was certain she could outswim him. Thaliniel quickly glanced at Legolas to see him fighting off four men; his long knives were a blur of shining white. She hoped he knew what he was doing.

"Come on, she-elf," the man hollered at her. "There's no where you can go."

She took an enormous breath and dove under the water.

Birlaf was a mountain of a man, so much so that Legolas wondered for a moment if he might just be part troll, and his dark eyes burned with pure rage as he drew a heavy sword and spat toward his defiant enemy. The man charged toward Legolas, sword held high, and the prince knew that this man had spilled his fair share of blood. He lashed across the elf's abdomen, from which Legolas deftly stepped out of the way before turning and countering Birlaf's blade as it plunged toward him. Birlaf's style was all ferocity and primal instinct. The man fought like an orc, and as much as Legolas did not want to kill him, he needed to end this fight quickly.

"Stop dancing around, elf, and fight!" the man growled, his mouth contorted into an ugly sneer. "Or are you afraid that I'm going to mess up that pretty face of yours?"

Behind him in the river, Legolas could hear the water thrashing and the men shouting at Thaliniel. Legolas spun away from the latest swoop of Birlaf's sword, and this time he took the offensive and carved his blades in a deadly feint toward the man's chest, and just as the elf knew he would, Birlaf turned away to protect his chest and side, and when he did, for the briefest of seconds, his back was exposed. A split second opening was all the prince needed.

In a brilliant stream of crimson, Legolas sliced across the back of Birlaf's neck where the smallest sliver of skin showed above his leather gherkin. The man toppled over heavily, face first into the dust of the river path, and the other men, cowed by Legolas' defeat of their brawny leader, backed away. None wanted to engage him now, despite the advantage of their numbers.

Then Legolas heard Thaliniel scream, followed by a horrid gurgle.

The two men on the opposite side of the river had converged on Thaliniel. Originally, she had done quite well diving under the water and evading their advances, but now between the two of them and the steady pressing current of the river, they had closed in on her, and a short man with thick, dark hair cuffed her upper arm and began to drag her toward the far bank. Even though she was much taller than he, this particular bandit was much stouter, and despite all her thrashing and splashing, Thaliniel gained little ground. She desperately wanted to cry for Legolas' help, but could see that he was preoccupied fighting a battle of his own.

The shorter man grew tired of Thaliniel's resistance; she had fought him every step. He twisted her arm into a painful triangle. "'Ere now," he crooned. "If ye likes the water so much, then why how 'bout a drink, lovey?" Then he thrust her head beneath the surface of the river and held it there. He would show her who was boss.

Still Thaliniel struggled against his tight hold, but to no avail. Most elves could hold their breath under water for a fairly long time, and she was no exception, but even her endurance began to wane under the man's fierce grasp. His grip was too tight, and agony fired down her arm as if her bones might snap. Just as black dots began to swim before her eyes, her attacker pulled her back up. She gasped and then screamed as loudly as she could before he dunked her head back under the waves once more.

Legolas let the other bandits go the minute he heard Thaliniel scream. Without any thought to them or what they might do, the elf turned and dove into the river. In the two seconds before he hit the water, his worst fears had been confirmed. Two other men had captured Thaliniel and seemed to be taking great delight in drowning her.

The river ran deep and murky enough that Legolas swam unseen to within an arm's reach of the men torturing his friend. He reached out with both hands and jerked hard on the nearest leg, effectively yanking the man beneath the surface with a surprised yelp.

"Cotts!" the other man shouted, releasing Thaliniel from under the water. His companion had just disappeared! Then the river bloomed red, a sickening swirl in the eddying currents, and Cotts' body resurfaced further downstream, face down, unmoving. "Cotts!" the bandit screamed again, backing away toward the riverbank, his face drawn white with disbelief and panic.

"You did this," the man cried out to Thaliniel. "You called some river gods to devour us!" He had almost backed up all the way to the river's edge when Legolas rose from the water behind him and seized him from behind, wrapping one strong forearm around the man's neck in a vice-like headlock.

Legolas dragged him from the water and flung him onto the shore, dripping and fearful. The moment the man tried to rise, the prince shoved him back down into the hard-packed clay, this time kneeling beside him, grabbing a fistful of his collar, forcing him to look into his eyes.

This was no man—surely nothing mortal could be this deadly, this intense. The elf's eyes were liquid blue flames, and Legolas' captive shuddered in a way that had nothing to do with the cold morning air.

"You would attack a woman?" the elf hissed, and without waiting for an answer, he struck the man across the jaw, so hard that the man's head whipped to the side.

"You tried to drown her?" And again, Legolas punched his prisoner, barely registering the faint splatter of blood as his fist broke his nose.

"Never again!" he roared, and his fist flew up ready to strike once more but stilled against a gentle touch to his elbow.

"Legolas."

The prince turned and beheld Thaliniel, dripping wet and meek behind him. Then he turned back to his prisoner, this shivering coward of a man, and he pulled out one of his long white knives with relish and watched his eyes go wide.

"Please—please, no!" the man begged against this formidable creature.

The prince drove the handle of the knife home—and knocked the villain unconscious across the back of his head.

In the next second, he was at Thaliniel's side, and without any thought to propriety, had pulled her into his arms. "By the Valar," he murmured into the tangle of her wet hair, his hands unconsciously running up and down her back, her sides, as if to verify that she was there before him, real and solid, while he collected himself. His breathing slowed and eventually he pulled away enough to look down into her brown eyes. He smiled a little with just the barest hint of those dimples.

"You know, you really might need to look into finding a better protector on this journey, Thaliniel. So far under my care, you have already had to fend off orcs, been in a bar fight, and now almost drowned by bandits."

She wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him back toward her, and despite the recent circumstances, smiled into his soaked tunic. "I rather like the one I have right now, thank you very much," she insisted, and in that moment, the two elves were simply content to hold each other in the warmth of the early morning sun.

* * *

Thank you for reading! I hope you had as much fun reading this chapter as I had writing it! ;)

There's no telling what will happen next! More near death? More romance? More Thranduil? And where exactly _are_ those Rivendell elves with Narylfiel?!

Please Review!


	14. Unexpected Meetings

**A BIG thaink you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. Sorry about the delay on this one-I've been on vacation, but now I'm back in business! ;)**

**LegolasGreenleafLove: Okay, okay! You win the prize for most back to back reviews! I really appreciated your comment about how this story seemed to make Legolas a whole new character for you, because that's something I was really trying for with this premise. Thank you!**

**Arwegornandfeowyn: Thanks again for more artwork! HUGS! I've been on vacation and the wi-fi was so unreliable, but I totally loved it! and you never have to apologize for a late review! I'm just happy to hear from you any time. Period! ;)**

**Leah2201: I'm really glad to hear you're enjoying Thranduil. I have to confess that I only originally planned a few minimal scenes with him, but I've gotten such a kick out of writing him that I keep adding more scenes.**

**Hogwartswonderland: I liked seeing your perception of Barathion. I originally pictured him as sort of a goofy boy-next-door. But his comments do come off sort of...self-centered. Which he totally is. **

**Miss Les Paul: Thanks again, Nev! I think for me the review button is the like button on here. It would be cool if a story could have some sort of rating thing. Unless my story got crummy ratings. Then I would be all depressed. ;)**

**Justwritingforfun: Okay, I was SO happy to hear that you appreciated that mental image of Legolas rising up out of the water. *fans self* Whew! You know, Thaliniel appreciated it too, and I may even have to pay more homage to it in this chapter! I know what you mean about Thranduil and the upcoming hotness-I mean, have you seen some of those shots of Lee Pace? *Sigh* You know what this means, don't you? My next story may have to be a Thranduil fic! LOL!**

**Floweringbirdies: Yay! New Reader! Legolas wants to hug you for reviewing. And hey, I normally update about once a week, but I went on vacation this week, so things have been slow! **

**Starfire341: Ahh, some of those questions will be answered in this chapter! Dun dun dun! But not how you're expecting... muah ha ha ha! :) Hey, thanks again for reviewing-I really enjoy hearing from you.**

**Seriya Silvermist: Aww, thanks for the love on the Thranduil part. I am getting a little addicted to writing him. He is just too much fun. **

**Aranel Mereneth: More Thranduil coming up! And of course more L/T! I can't leave them out!**

**EzmeetheHedgehog: You know, I wasn't even thinking about having Thranduil come across Gandalf, but then after you mentioned it in your last review, it just seemed too perfect and fun NOT to include. So... there's a scene in this chapter dedicated to you!**

**Tierney Greenleaf: Thank you for reviewing! I'm glad you liked seeing Legolas get all protective. Who wouldn't, frankly? **

**Flyingcheese: I hadn't thought about Barathion not knowing about Legolas being the messenger, so I decided to include a little scene in this chapter just for you!**

**Bethrodriguez: Yay! new Reader! Legolas wants to hug you for reviewing! :)**

**Trollalalala: Glad you liked how I wrapped it up. You know how much I love a good cliffhanger, but in the case of the last chapter I really had to contain/force myself not to end on some terrifying note. **

* * *

Chapter 14: Unexpected Meetings

The morning hailed bright and victorious, highlighting the river with gold-tipped streaks next to Legolas and Thaliniel who still held onto each other tightly, both really trying to calm themselves from their most recent near-death experience.

The two elves' embrace ended as quickly as it began with Legolas awkwardly dropping his arms to the side.

"Will you be alright then?" he asked concernedly.

"I will be," she promised. "But what about you, Legolas?" she inquired, her forehead wrinkling in dismay. "You were the one who was in real danger—fighting off all those men and even having to k—" she stumbled over the word "kill a few…"

The prince looked away, down toward the river where the water rippled merrily in the sunlight. Beyond that, he could still see two of the bodies. He had done that—he had slain those men without hesitation.

"I have never enjoyed killing, never, "Legolas confessed. "But those men…I had to kill them. When I saw them hurt you, something in me just…" his voice trailed away as he met Thaliniel's eyes, unsure of how to explain himself.

She reached out, touched his arm. "Thank you for what you did, Legolas," she said.

He glanced down where her hand still rested on his forearm, and shyly Thaliniel met his eyes again and withdrew her hand. "I have spent my entire life on my father's vineyard, Legolas, so it's not as if I have seen any combat to compare it to-" Thaliniel explained, "but what I saw you do today—it was indescribable. Like dancing."

Legolas' mouth quirked up.

"Extremely lethal dancing," clarified Thaliniel. "I will probably regret saying this because Valar knows your ego is probably big enough as it is, but what you did was amazing. Amazing," she repeated, casting her eyes down. Seeing him fight like that, well, it was like learning that he was a completely different person. A warrior. She had not known that he had it in him. He had seemed unsure of himself in the fight with the orcs, but today had been a completely different story.

He was a warrior, and he was royalty—the crown prince of Mirkwood. Thaliniel knew all of this to be absolutely true, an inexorable fact; but beyond the title, he was just _Legolas, _her friend, the one she had watched burp after eating a platter of turkey legs in front of the fire. His cheeks dimpled when he laughed, and she knew that he liked to whistle off-key while riding his horse.

And today he had saved her life.

Legolas had risen up from out of the water, sleek and so powerful, as if he were the embodiment of the very water gods, which the bandit had feared. He had disabled his enemy in less than ten seconds, but Thaliniel kept coming back to that image of him as he stood behind her attacker. Water beaded his eyelashes and streamed from his hair, bright gold in the morning light. His eyes met hers for the briefest moment, and in the next equally short moment, Thaliniel experienced a surge of admiration and desire for him that she had never felt for anyone. She certainly had never felt that way about Barathion, but Legolas? She had wanted him to pull her to the riverbank and then show her what it was like to be kissed, really kissed. Not that she entertained any true hopes of him ever actually doing so, Thaliniel was practical enough to recognize that crown princes did not court farm girls. But despite this logic, she liked imagining the scenario anyway and secretly added 'Getting kissed by Prince Legolas' to her List of Things to Accomplish.

She desperately tried not to reflect on the possibility of this happening as they mounted their horses, and she reminded herself not to ponder over it as they continued on down the road. When they stopped for water, Thaliniel chided herself for mulling over the memory of him pulling her into his arms after the fight, and tried not to recall how he had fought for her at the river crossing yet again as they traveled down the valley. Such thoughts, she decided, were unproductive. She had very nearly convinced herself to forget such notions entirely when she heard Legolas shout.

"I see them, Thaliniel! Over the next hill!" he cried, shading his eyes and looking toward the north where a line of trees freckled the approaching hills. He urged his horse forward, and Thaliniel, her heart constricting so tightly she feared it might implode, followed after him. All she wanted was to be able to pull Narylfiel into her arms, and then maybe shake her soundly, but not without hugging her tightly and kissing her first.

The prince's horse thundered up toward the other elves, and he hailed them as he approached. "Well met, elves of Rivendell! We have been trying to catch up to you ever since you have left the vineyard."

Thaliniel, however, did not wait for any pleasantries. She quickly sprang down from her horse and sprinted toward the wagon to find her sister.

"Lady Thaliniel and Prince Legolas! Well met indeed!" replied one of Rivendell elves.

Thaliniel stopped mid-sprint. "Wait just a moment!" she cried. "Prince Legolas? You knew who he was the whole time?" Thaliniel accused, shooting her friend a dirty look.

The Rivendell elf merely shrugged with a mischievous grin. "Many things are not what they may seem, my lady."

Legolas spared a glance at Thaliniel and took charge of the conversation. "We have been following you since the morning you left. Thaliniel's little sister Narylfiel disappeared and we have reason to believe she may have stowed away in your wagon."

"No, that is not possible," said another of the Rivendell party, peeking his head out of the wagon. "We traded for supplies in Dale and emptied out the wagon. Narylfiel is not with us."

Legolas looked just in time to see the rosy hue in Thaliniel's cheeks drain to white right before he lunged forward to catch her in his arms.

* * *

Barathion, son of Baros, still sat moping on the front walk up of Faendol manor long after the king's vanguard majestically galloped away. He poked the dirt with a stick and wondered forlornly why things had to become so complicated. He and Thaliniel had been friends ever since they were elflings. It just made sense for them to take the next step and marry; plus both their fathers wanted the match.

His ears perked at the sound of voices coming down the lane. Dusting off his hands on the sides of his tunic, Barathion stood and could not have been more surprised at who he saw strolling down the lane.

Thaliniel's Aunt Maeben seemed to be scolding a very sullen Narylfiel by the looks of it.

Barathion sat back down on the steps in disbelief. Then he quickly stood back up. Narylfiel had never gone with those traders from Rivendell. He sat back down again, his head in his hands, thinking of Thaliniel and the fools' errand she was on—with Prince Legolas, no less—and all the time her sister had never been in any danger.

"Barathion," greeted Aunt Maeben kindly, "Narylfiel and I are just returning from the village. The Joras family have been blessed with a healthy baby girl, the fifth in the family, I might add!"

Barathion nodded dumbly, his mind still reeling from seeing Narylfiel standing quizzically before him, mouth drawn tightly together, with her hands on her hip.

"Have you seen Thaliniel?" asked Maeben. "I'm sure Narylfiel would like to apologize to her sister," she gave the young girl a pointed look, "for leaving the manor without permission to join me in the village."

Unfortunately, Barathion did not handle the situation as well as one might. Instead of lucidly explaining all that had come to pass directly, the young elf cracked under the ludicrous circumstances. He looked at Aunt Maeben and then at Narylfiel and snorted an ill-mannered chuckle. Then he dropped his head down, clutching his sides, and his face turned a very unflattering shade of magenta.

"I do believe he's having a fit of some sorts," Maeben murmured to Narylfiel, who despite her sulk, could not help but take interest in Barathion's odd response.

"Thaliniel!"—he wheezed in between snorts, "Thaliniel!" He burst out laughing and leaned back on the steps. "She thought you," he pointed at Narylfiel, "had run away with the traders from Rivendell."

Narylfiel caught a dark look from her Aunt Maeben. "What? I left her a note that I went with you," she defended herself. "At least…I think that I did?"

Barathion giggled shrilly. "And the best part is—" he hiccupped and continued, "the KING of the Woodland Realm stopped by the Manor looking for Prince Legolas this morning! You see, he went with your niece." The statement ended with another onslaught of unconscionable giggles.

"The Crown Prince?" Aunt Maeben asked flatly, for nothing Barathion said so far had made the slightest bit of sense to her.

Narylfiel beamed at her aunt. It was the first time she had smiled since her scolding. "You know, Locien? The very nice messenger from the palace?" she asked her aunt.

Barathion's laughter stopped abruptly, and he frowned. "That scoundrel that told me those filthy lies about giant owls?"

Narylfiel ignored Barathion. "Well, that just happened to be Prince Legolas." She cupped her hands and whispered loudly to her aunt. "I suspect that he may _like_ Thaliniel, not just as friends, but really _like_ her."

Now it was Barathion's turn to scowl. He stood up and dusted off the fine white dust from the steps onto his tunic again. "I heard that, you know." He narrowed his eyes at Narylfiel, who in turn squinted right back at him.

Poor Aunt Maeben was stunned, and rightfully so, for she had been entertaining royalty under her roof and had not even realized it. "I should have put him in the blue guestroom," she murmured wistfully. Then she directed a sharp stare at Narylfiel. "I believe you have some explaining to do, young lady." She seized her niece by the elbow and frog-marched her into the house, leaving Barathion on the front steps to ponder this latest news. "Tell me everything you know," she demanded.

* * *

Much farther down the road from Faendol Vineyard, another impromptu meeting of sorts was under way, for King Thranduil and his guards had come across another traveler on their road, one who was extremely well-known to them all, Mithrandir, the Gray Pilgrim. Now, it must be said that Thranduil and Gandalf had known each other for many long cordial years, and Thranduil along with his people delighted in the Gray Wizard's company, his entertaining tales and even occasionally, a merry firework or two; however, Thranduil, as shrewd as he was, often suspected that Gandalf stirred up more trouble than necessary. He was not particularly glad of heart to see the wizard on the morning road, pointy hat and all. Nonetheless, Thranduil dismounted and greeted him like the old friend that he was.

The picture the pair of them might have made had an artist's eye captured the moment! As if he knew a particularly tantalizing piece of gossip, Gandalf in his drab gray cloak and pointed wizard's hat leaned against his staff toward the elven king, who despite all the dust from the road, looked immaculate and beyond compare.

Of course, Dear Readers, the elf king and wizard exchanged many polite inquiries concerning health and well-being of friends and common acquaintances, all of which will be forthrightly skipped due to the sheer lack of entertainment value of such. Then they delved into the most interesting part of the conversation:

"There has been talk," Gandalf began, "of a nameless malice stirring in the withered heath, among the darkest, twisting caves, where man dares not tread, and not even the dwarves dare mine. You know as well as I that evil breeds evil, and what is dark must come to light."

Thranduil's voice was quiet as he locked eyes with the wizard. "You know as I do, Gandalf, that the mountains of the Withered Heath are a labyrinth of twisting caverns, a honeycomb-an eyrie for dragons and other fell beasts."

"You are right, old friend," Gandalf softly agreed. "And that is exactly what both Elrond and I fear. "

"Do not tell me that you have sent my son into the middle of this, you old meddling fool," Thranduil said, his voice like the sharp edge of elven forged steel. The elf king's eyes glinted dangerously. Gandalf knew how much Thranduil loved his son. Where Legolas was involved, one must tread with the utmost care.

"I have seen Legolas on this road, King Thranduil," he admitted. "I met him and his young lady as they passed through Dale." Gandalf's eyes twinkled. "I must say that Thaliniel was charming, and your Legolas seemed quite taken with her."

"Gandalf…" Thranduil warned, refusing to let the wizard draw the conversation off-topic.

The wizard continued on, "I did not, however, give them any specifics about the twins' mission to Ered Mithrin."

Thranduil looked visibly relieved at the prospect. "We will ride on then," he called to his guards. The king fixed his eyes on the old gray wizard before mounting his horse. "Do not be a stranger to us, Mithrandir. Our doors are ever open to you."

Gandalf's eyes twinkled mischievously as he watched them go. "I do believe," he speculated to no one in particular, "that this adventure just might be the making of young Prince Legolas…"

* * *

Thank you for reading! Please review!

Will Legolas and Thaliniel join the Rivendell elves on their quest to the Withered Heath? Hmmm... Let me know what you would like to see next! Peril? Romance? Thranduil? Fighting? Smooching? And what exactly is this secret mission about anyways?


	15. A Captive Audience

**A Big Thank You to all my special friends who reviewed the last chapter:**

**Seriya Silvermist: Your checklist cracked me up. I too would like to get on to the last item in your checklist…I couldn't resist the temptation and already did a little pre-writing on those particular scenes.**

**Leanna: Thank you for reviewing and I hope to hear from you again! I added a little L/T fluff just for you!**

**Flyingcheese143: I was glad to hear that you weren't too disappointed to find out that Narylfiel was not with the Rivendell elves. Part of me really wanted her in the mix, but I also like the idea of her being back safe at home!**

**Sazza-da-vampire: You know, sometimes as an author you _think_ you have everything worked out so neatly, but I hadn't honestly considered what you wrote in your review. I'll admit it—you stumped me!**

**LegolasGreenleafLove: Loved your last review! You know you're onto something good when it's 'scream worthy!' LOL! I hope this chapter has your parents' heads turning again!**

**Hogwartswonderland: Yes, that Barathion _is_ a piece of work, and I think that Narylfiel must get on his nerves, the way that only smart-alecky kid sisters can do!**

**Starfire341: 'Aw shucks!' to you too! I liked your opinion on the whole 'getting a taste for adventure' and I kept going back to it when I was considering our heroes' next move when I was writing this chapter. I mean—the title of this story _is_ 'Wanderlust,' but does that extend to perilous, evil mountains?...**

**EzmeetheHedgehog: Your review—especially your perspective on Thranduil made me stop and think. I feel like I'm definitely going to have to write a few more scenes with our fav elf king!**

**Trollalalala: Thanks again for the lovely kind words and feedback. More peril and Thranduil coming soon!**

**Justwritingforfun: Your comment about giggling a lot through the last chapter tickled me, because I think I probably giggled a lot while writing it. And you are the only one so far who has made a connection to the whole 'breeding ground of the great worms'—so more on that later, I promise! And come on—you know I'm going to HAVE to do a Thranduil one-shot—the idea is pretty much irresistible. I'm just going to have to think of the perfect scenario, and if I want to do humorous or serious or whatever.**

**Bntjammer: Yay! A new reader! And I always appreciate another writer's opinion (I really enjoyed "The Second Heir")—especially one who shares my love of Legolas and all things LotR!**

**Ellmarr: Another new reader! *Celebrates!* Whoot! I'm glad you've enjoyed the story thus far, and buckle up your seat belt because it's about to get crazy up in here! Let me know if there's anything you'd like to see happen! I love new ideas!**

**LotR-HP-PJ: I totally agree with you on the "Th" mixup between Thranduil and Thaliniel. When I originally started this story, I never picture him having a bigger role. But he just sort of happened…and I'm glad he did—except for potential name confusion. I should put it in there as a joke at some point!**

**Sapphire Jade Eyes: Thanks for reviewing! Everybody should go and look at your C2! Great collection of stories!**

**Charmelaucium: I love that you mentioned 'face-palming' in your last review! It was such a facepalm moment, wasn't it? More facepalming to come, I promise!**

**.77: Your review was super sweet, and I totally loved it! Thank you for your support! I'm glad you like Legolas and Thaliniel's relationship so far—I'm really trying to show why and how they can be friends—but also build up the chemistry between them at the same time.**

**Sleepyhollow 5: LOL! Another facepalm! I love it! It's so funny, but I got several mentions of facepalming from reviewers about Narylfiel being so close to home the whole time. Your opinion about the upcoming mission was very on point, I might add—very similar to what I had originally thought.**

**Aranel Mereneth: L/T _do_ need to hurry things up, but…they won't. He's such a gentleman, don't you know? Thaliniel says she's open to suggestions/pointers if you have any! Lol!**

**Arwegornandfeowyn: Favorite chapter, really?! *Blushes* That makes me want to raise the bar and out do myself—I know I can! I'll be thinking about how to concoct an even more perfect chapter, full of all your favorite things!**

* * *

Chapter 15: A Captive Audience

Legolas could hardly believe his ears. They had ridden past flooded roads, orcs, and bandits in hot pursuit of Thaliniel's sister, only to discover now that she had never gone with the Rivendell elves, and his lovely companion had not taken the news well.

Thaliniel might have all the appearances of being a sweet young maiden, but Legolas also knew first hand the strength of her resolve—he had watched her get manhandled and punched in a bar fight to being nearly drowned, and she had taken all of those events in stride. Hearing the bad news that her sister was not where they believed, on the other hand, had her crumpling over in his arms like a wilted fern.

Legolas steadied Thaliniel, wrapping one arm firmly about her shoulders. "If Narylfiel did not come with the Rivendell elves," he thought out loud, "then where could she possibly be?"

Thaliniel looked visibly ill, and the prince guided her to a fallen log where she could sit down, which she did, still looking visibly shaken at the latest news, her eyes rimmed with the slightest sheen of unshed tears.

"Stay with us tonight," one of the Rivendell elves said suddenly to Legolas. "She's in no shape to ride anywhere tonight, and this is as good as stopping place as any for us."

"Thank you, but—," Legolas hesitated, eyeing Thaliniel with care.

The other dark-haired brother spoke up. "Please, we must insist! We have plenty of provisions."

Legolas nodded. "Thank you, we will," he answered for the both of them.

As evening sank in, dull of stars with a new moon that shrank the sky around them into a pitch-dark void, the elves circled themselves around a contrastingly chipper fire that did little to raise Thaliniel's spirits. Legolas attended her faithfully, rarely leaving her side, except to fetch her a small bowl of stew and something to drink.

The two brothers watched her carefully, and noting the prince's concern, did their best to try and raise her spirits.

"Since this seems to be the night for surprises, Lady Thaliniel," one of them began slyly, "you may be equally surprised to learn that, like the prince here, my brother and I were not entirely honest with you concerning our names and parentage."

Thaliniel straightened up and brushed a droopy lock of hair from out of her tired eyes. "Do not tell me," she said flatly, "you are actually the sons of Lady Galadriel."

One of the twins laughed and poked the fire, sending up a merry spray of sparks. "Her grandsons, actually," he corrected her.

Despite herself, Thaliniel laughed and covered her face. "Oh no!"

The other twin spoke up quickly, "Our father is Lord Elrond of Imladris. I am Elladan, and this is Elrohir," he said, gesturing to his brother.

Thaliniel's face flushed. "How can anyone ever tell you apart?" she wondered.

Elrohir laughed again, his face creasing into dimples. "Easy, really. I am the handsome one!"

Elladan gave his brother a hard look. "We are sorry to have deceived you, my lady—our father instructed us to keep a low profile during our journey."

Thaliniel looked to Legolas and then to the two dark-haired elves sitting before her. "What is wrong with you? Honestly," she exclaimed, pointing to the three of them. "Fake names! Is this some unwritten rule among nobles?"

"Well, who knows what Legolas' idiotic reasons were for lying, but we would have told you who we were had the prince not been hanging around when we arrived," explained Elrohir. "My brother recognized you right away," he said with a nod to the prince.

"Your resemblance to your father _is_ uncanny," Elladan observed with a wicked grin at Thaliniel. "How could you have not known who he was?"

Thaliniel glanced at the elf sitting beside her, and he caught her eye and smiled sheepishly. "Oh, because King Thranduil frequents my father's vineyard so often!" she said sarcastically. "Of course, I had no idea!" Despite the annoyance in her voice at being teased, she already looked more like her usual self. The conversation had succeeded in taking her mind of losing Narylfiel.

"So, you kept your identities a secret because of Prince Legolas?" Thaliniel asked, not seeing a connection between the two.

The brothers and Legolas, of course, did, and they exchanged an awkward glance, none of the three exactly sure how to explain the situation diplomatically.

"Legolas' father hates our father," piped up Elrohir.

Elladan shot him a dry look. "Nice tact, brother."

"What?" retorted Elrohir. "He does!"

Legolas met Thaliniel's eyes. "Well…hate is sort of a strong word," he said with a grimace.

"Strongly dislikes?" suggested Elrohir.

"True enough," affirmed the prince and saluted them with his tin cup of mead, which the two brothers cheerfully clinked with their own cups.

"In the last meeting of the White Council that Thranduil attended, he called our father a 'meddling busybody' and refused to attend ever again," explained Elladan. "So naturally, our presence here would be seen as highly questionable by King Thranduil. We could not risk Legolas running back and squealing to his father about what we were up to."

Legolas bristled a little. "Just for the record, I do not 'squeal.'" He took another slow sip of the overly honeyed mead.

The brothers both laughed. "No, of course not!" chuckled Elrohir.

Thaliniel nodded and yawned openly. "I am very tired," she announced to the group and stood. "If you will be so kind to excuse me, I believe I will try to find some rest in the branches of one of those trees. I have a lot of thinking to do." As she turned, her back to the other elves, she gave her companion a pointed look for him to accompany her.

Legolas stood quickly, a little too quickly for the mead was already making his head swim. "I find myself also weary and need of rest," he excused himself.

"Thaliniel," one of the brothers called to her as she walked away. She stopped and hesitantly turned, biting her lower lip.

Elladan looked up from the blaze, his handsome features bathed in the warm orange light. "Do not worry for your sister," he encouraged her. "I have thought about it some more, and I cannot believe that she would have wandered very far. It is much more logical that she would have gone to find someone familiar, someone comforting."

Thaliniel nodded slowly. "I have not considered that, thank you," she said softly and then left to join Legolas in the ring of trees outside the campfire. Cheeks flushed from the fire or perhaps too much mead, he had already settled on one of the higher branches, and she carefully pulled herself up to join him on a neighboring branch.

"What was that all about?" he asked a bit too loudly, referring to her 'follow me look' that she had given him.

"Shh. I do not trust them," she said in a low voice, her eyes darting back to the campfire where the twins still sat comfortably.

"They are Elrond's sons and have been nothing but courteous" Legolas said unconvinced, with a dismissive wave of his hand. "They are hardly the same caliber as the bandits we ran across earlier. They are not robbers, Thaliniel," he teased.

"I am being serious," she said earnestly in a forced whisper. "Were you listening at all to anything they said earlier?"

Legolas looked at her thoughtfully, replaying the conversation in his mind as he studied her. "You do not actually believe that—"

"They just said as much, Legolas!" Thaliniel hissed. "Elladan and Elrohir have no intention of letting us leave tomorrow—"

"They can hardly force us to go with them," he replied uncertainly, eyeing the two elves by the fire with a growing amount of distrust.

"Elladan, Elrohir, plus their four guards," Thaliniel counted aloud. "Six of them and two of us. Of course, they can, Legolas. They could tie us up and stick us in the back of their wagon. Whatever their journey is for, they have made it abundantly clear that they are not going to let anything or anyone stop them from accomplishing it."

Legolas looked at her grimly. "From what I have heard so far of where they are heading, we do not want to be anywhere near that place, Thaliniel."

"What is wrong with the Grey Mountains?" she asked. She recalled Mithrandir briefly mentioning 'death and blood,' neither of which sounded like her idea of a good time.

"Lots of things," he said shortly but did not elaborate, not wishing to worry her. She met his eyes and watched them darken as he reached for her hand to hold it, to reassure her.

She waited for him to say something, but instead he leaned back against the tree and stared straight ahead. The light evening breeze teased the leaves overhead, and normally Thaliniel would have found the gentle rustle comforting. Only tonight it sounded too much like waves slapping the rocky shore of a lake, like an ill tide or a coming storm.

Still Legolas held her hand tightly, his fingers laced through her own.

"Do not worry, Thaliniel," he said at last. "We will think of something—sneak away in the night—something," he added tiredly, a yawn punctuating his words; fatigue from the day's events finally caught up to him.

"I always did want to see mountains," she told him wistfully.

"And I always dreamed about going on a heroic adventure like in one of the stories I used to read," replied Legolas ruefully. "Although, I am not sure the Withered Heath would be my top pick of destinations." He yawned again and blinked sleepily at her.

"I'm just a little frightened, you know?" she admitted to him. "About my sister, and now this, and—"

"Thaliniel—no matter what happens—I'll be right by your side. Protector—remember?" Legolas yawned and stretched, his cheeks still flushed and rosy, and Thaliniel thought he had never looked so boyish or charming, and those feelings—treacherous feelings which she had spent the better part of the day trying to ignore—surged triumphantly back as he brought her fingers to his lips for a feather-light kiss, so gentle she would later believe she must have imagined it.

"Legolas," Thaliniel murmured his name as she tried desperately not to melt into an enormous puddle right there in front of him. Instead, she readjusted her cloak over her legs. She supposed hand-kisses were probably a regular old thing there in Thranduil's court, but she had been on the receiving end of very few and especially not from handsome princes! When she plucked up enough courage to look back at Legolas, his eyes had drifted shut. He let out a very unprincelike snore.

Thaliniel just stared at him for a second. Then she calmly reached over and pinched him on the leg, hard. Legolas did not so much as twitch and then snored again. He mumbled something in his sleep. Thaliniel leaned closer.

"Mmm…turkey legs…" he mumbled again, and then smiled goofily, eyes still closed.

Thaliniel rocked back on her branch, eyeing the prince, her protector, with dismay. Of all the things! She really never thought she had much of a temper. Years of dealing with Narylfiel had forced her to learn patience, but in this moment, she was absolutely livid.

Her head snapped toward the campfire, and in the next second she swung down from her tree branch and stormed over to the twin brothers.

"You! You—drugged him!" she ground out accusingly and wished in that moment that she would have had a rock or anything in her hands that she could have thrown at the pair of them.

"Of course not!" replied a baffled Elrohir until he looked at Elladan. "Did we?"

Elladan stood and gone was his friendly countenance from earlier. "I am sorry, Thaliniel," he said briskly, not sounding even remotely apologetic, "but I could not risk him telling his father. I am going to have to ask that you both accompany us to the Grey Mountains."

She dropped onto the nearest log with a huff of frustration. "But Narylfiel—"

"—Will be fine," finished Elladan as he knelt beside her and reached for her hand, which she promptly jerked away with a huff. "I am sorry for my tactics, my lady. I slipped a somnia leaf into his mead. Your prince will be perfectly fine come morning." She looked bitterly toward Legolas slumped over in the tree before he guided her chin back to face him. His eyes were dark and serious. "If you want to protect your sister—if you wish to save her—then you will help us in our task, for we journey to the Withered Heath to destroy an evil that could prove to be the undoing of us all." He paused and shared a look with Elrohir, who nodded for him to continue.

"My grandmother, Lady Galadriel, can see things—things that have not yet come to pass. She had a recurring nightmare-visions of a dark mountain pass consumed with smoke and flame. Then Gandalf came to my father with worries of his own. The great worms have rebuilt their nests in the east—they're breeding again."

Thaliniel's eyes grew wide. Even she understood the destruction one dragon could cause. But an eyrie full of them?

Elladan fixed his eyes on her. "We must destroy those nests—all of them."

* * *

Cliffhanger! Aack! Okay, so originally I planned on adding a little more but this seemed like a good place to stop. And… *sniffle* I had to have surgery on Wednesday for a kidney stone—I'm so glad it didn't happen when I was on vacation! I am recovering nicely—and the good thing is that while I'm supposed to be 'resting,' I've had some great time to sit and think and write! Yay! There's always a silver lining…

Please let me know your thoughts and wishes for the upcoming chapter! You know I'm always open to fun ideas! Seem like we're about to get all amped up for some serious peril in the mountains!


	16. Road to the Withered Heath

**A Big Thank you to All My Readers who reviewed the last chapter:**

**Seriya Silvermist: Thaliniel hopes he was dreaming about her, or he could just really like turkey legs, you never know!**

**Arwegornandfeowyn: I borrowed a line from your review for this chapter! Hee hee! Just wait and see…**

**Charmelaucium: More Elladan and Elrohir coming up soon! I crack myself up writing their dialogue and scenes. **

**Starfire341: I know—I really sort of wanted for Thaliniel to march over there and punch one of them, but…I refrained. **

**TierneyGreenleaf: The mountains are coming…! And Legolas will wake up from his nappy!**

**Flyingcheese341: Yes, Thaliniel completely agrees with your review. And someone **_**might **_**even get punched…**

**Justwritingforfun: I loved your reaction to the Legolas being drugged scene! That was SO exactly what I was going for! LOL! **

** 77: Thanks again for reviewing! Yes, Legolas won't have a clue to what has happened, poor guy.**

**SleepyHollow 5: Yes, I've been waiting for Elladan and Elrohir to reappear in the story line and I am having SO much fun writing their characters! They are going to give Legolas fits.**

* * *

Chapter 16: Road to the Withered Heath

Legolas awoke to the gentle sway of the tree branch…except when his eyes finally focused, he realized with a start that he was no longer in the tree but stretched out inside a wagon. He moved uncomfortably to sit up and noticed his hands were bound and his feet as well!

He strained against his bonds and then noticed that Thaliniel was sitting across from him, gently laughing at his predicament.

He stared at her for a second, noticing that _she_ was not tied up. "Do _not_ say it," he said and then tugged at the rope around his hands.

"I told you so?" Thaliniel guessed. "No, I would _never_ say that!" She studied him briefly, now that he was awake, and she could not help but grin a little. "We are on our way to the Grey Mountains, by the way," she informed him.

"How come _you_ are not tied up?" he accused her, eyes narrowing.

"I guess they did not see me as a threat," Thaliniel surmised. "You, on the other hand…"

Legolas actually perked up at this. "Kind of flattering" he supposed outloud. "I guess they thought this" and he gestured toward himself, "was more than they could handle."

"Flattering?" repeated Thaliniel. "I do not want you to be flattered, Legolas. They _drugged_ you! And made you a prisoner!" Thaliniel's eyes flashed, remembering how angry she had been with Elladan the night before, even with the seriousness of all his explanations. "I want you to punch them. I almost punched them myself!"

"Well, when you put it _that_ way," he said. "What are they planning to do anyway?"

Thaliniel sorted through her bag as she told him briefly of her much longer talk with the twins. "It seems as though the Great Worms of the East have returned to their nests in the Withered Heath—the pass and mountain caves lying between the Grey Mountains. According to their father's research, the twins believe that there is a nesting period, a sort of incubation time when the dragons lay their eggs and then leave the nests. Elladan and Elrohir want to strike during this time, in the summer months, when the eggs and nests will be unguarded and destroy them all." She finished her explanation when she pulled out a knife so small that it looked more like a fingernail file, and taking it she leaned over Legolas' lap and cut his bonds from his hands and then his feet.

"They were right," Legolas said slowly. "My father would have tried to stop them." He locked eyes with Thaliniel. "If they get caught by any of the dragons, if they are seen—all the worms will pay attention to is that elves have destroyed their nests, and where is the closest elvish kingdom for retribution?"

"Mirkwood…" she realized.

"You were right, Thaliniel," Legolas agreed, his voice dropping to a low growl. "I do feel like punching somebody." The twins were risking his entire kingdom on this mission—and had not even had the courtesy to inform anyone that they might imminently be on the receiving end of an attack by dragons if their mission failed? His entire body tensed, and a feral sort of light gleamed in his eyes.

He really looked like he might kill someone. Perhaps she was too hasty with her comment about punching someone. She grabbed his arm before he could launch himself from the covered wagon. "Legolas, wait!" she exclaimed and pushed him back down, just as the wagon's wheels must have struck a hard bump in the road, for both elves were flung backward. Thaliniel landed against Legolas, her hands and arms against his chest, her body sprawled across his lap.

Her lips parted as she met his eyes and without even meaning to, his hand reached out and gently pushed her hair away from her face.

Then Thaliniel neatly moved herself over to the side, but could not stop her cheeks from burning, a fact which Legolas delighted in, despite his aggrieved state.

"We cannot stop them, Legolas," Thaliniel said matter-of-factly, "but we can help them—make sure that they succeed."

Legolas' face flushed. He knew what she said made sense, but he was just so angry, and he really was not an angry person by nature. Could the brothers not see how much their mission endangered his people, or did they just not care? He wondered what his father would say if he knew.

* * *

The King of the Woodland Realm looked extremely put out, disgruntled, and generally unpleasant at the moment. Thranduil had arrived in Dale, a place that very often pleased him greatly, except for now. He had just been informed from his scouts that his son may or may not have been involved in a bar fight with some dwarves. Legolas! What was he thinking? Another scout had discovered a ledger at an inn in which "Locien" had signed in as a married couple. Had he married this poor girl? He no longer knew what to think, except that he might cheerfully strangle Gandalf and Legolas, too.

And to make matters worse, his usually very accommodating inn—with the best wine!— that he adored staying in next to the lake was completely full for the weekend with some sort of wedding nonsense—as if they could not tell those people to have their blasted nuptials somewhere else.

As rarely as they occurred, Thranduil feared that he might be suffering from…a headache. He pressed his long, elegant fingers to his temples and motioned for his Captain to come over.

"Beriadan," he said quietly. "I tire of this insipid journey. Send out the fastest riders to retrieve the prince and this girl, and the rest of us will return to my Hall."

"Your grace, may I offer an opinion?" Beriadan asked his king, to which Thranduil nodded permission. "I have a feeling, a hunch, that Prince Legolas has joined up with those Rivendell elves."

"Rivendell elves," Thranduil mused, as if the word left a bitter taste in his mouth. "A hunch, you say?"

"Your son—he always did seem keen—and I have helped in his training since he was a lad—on joining the Forest Guard, my king."

Thranduil considered this. He knew it to be true and could probably guess what Beriadan was going to say.

"He might see this as his chance to prove himself," the Captain of his guards explained to his king gently. He knew exactly how much young Legolas longed to put away his fathers' ledgers and focus solely on his training with the bow and knives—and he had talent, make no mistake of it!

"Blasted Gandalf," Thranduil muttered to himself, "always putting unwanted ideas into people's heads where they have no business of being in the first place! This is his doing, I am sure of it." He crossed his arms moodily and looked stormily at his Captain.

Beriadan stood his ground. He had been made Captain for a reason and knew better than most how to weather the kings' worst moods as well as hide his own. "I'll be sending out those riders, your majesty, and preparing the others to return."

"No, halt that order, Captain," Thranduil commanded and strode over to the side of his charger where he retrieved a heavy coin purse. He tossed it to Beriadan, who caught it easily. "Find us a suitable place to stay in Dale—buy a nice house or inn if you have to—and see to it that dinner and appropriate lodging is prepared. And some wine! Tomorrow at first light I want you and the rest of the company to go after Legolas. If they're planning on purging those mountains or some sort of nonsense, then Mirkwood will see it done."

"Yes, King Thranduil. At once!" Beriadan answered seriously, feeling the weight of his majesty's gold in his hand as he turned and quickly made preparations for the king to stay in Dale, a pleased look upon his face.

Mirkwood would see it done.

* * *

The wagon lurched to a stop, and Legolas tensed. He reminded himself to keep calm, work this out diplomatically, and to try and forget that those high and mighty twin brothers were probably still laughing about the fact that they drugged him and tied him up in a wagon.

Thaliniel placed a placating hand on his arm. "Remember what we talked about," she reminded him.

"Of course," Legolas told her graciously, schooling his face into a pleasant expression.

Just then one of the twins poked his head into the back of the wagon. "Oh, good!" he exclaimed. "You're awa—"

He never finished what he was going to say. Legolas sprung up from his seat inside the wagon and had launched himself with all of his power and pent up anger at his friendly captor. They both flipped over into a cloud of dust behind the wagon, and as the dust cleared, Thaliniel watched, slightly horrified but sort of pleased, as Legolas aimed a series of well-aimed punches at the brother pinned beneath him.

"Poison me, will you?" He punched him again.

"Take me prisoner?" Another punch punctuated his question.

"Threaten MY lady?" Legolas reared back to deliver another blow.

Thaliniel did not have time to be pleased about Legolas referring to her as 'his lady.' The other twin and one of the dark-haired guards, Selaer, pulled Legolas off of the fallen brother.

From the clouds of dust, he squinted up at Legolas and wiped a thin line of blood from the corner of his mouth. "Just for the record," he complained, "I did not poison you." He stood and dusted himself off, and Thaliniel jumped down from the wagon and pushed herself in front of the prince.

"No!" she cried, "no more fighting!"

Despite his cut lip, Elrohir looked amused. "Aren't you supposed to be _her_ protector or something?"

Elladan joined his brother's side, eyeing him apologetically, but not in any sort of genuine way. He had immensely enjoyed the look of terror on Elrohir's face when Legolas had sprung out of the wagon. Oh, he would be teasing him about it for weeks.

"My apologies to you, Prince Legolas," Elladan said gracefully. "I regret my earlier actions and ask now that you join us on our quest to the Grey Mountains. I am sure that Thaliniel has filled you in on the finer details."

Legolas looked unmoved.

"I_ am_ sorry, Legolas," Elladan said, his tone less formal now. "This must be done, and we could really use your help. From what I hear, you're Mirkwood's finest warrior."

Thaliniel blushed. "In my opinion, really," she said quietly to him.

"We will go with you," Legolas consented hesitantly, "but know that my first priority is to protecting Thaliniel."

"Agreed," said the twins together at the same time and then looked at each other and laughed. The prince's weapons and personal items were returned to him, and his and Thaliniel's horses were brought around with assurances from Elladan that he would no longer be made to ride in the wagon.

"Look," said Legolas, his voice soft in Thaliniel's ear, and guided her to see the horizon lying beyond their path. Deep smudges of gray darkened the land farthest north, where clouds slung low over the horizon shaded the roots of the mountains.

"How soon will we be there?" she asked him, turning her head to look up into his eyes.

"By nightfall," Elrohir answered with a wicked grin, mounting his horse, "the perfect time to start scouting the Withered Heath for nests."

The elves' mission might be to destroy dragons' nests, but that alone would not be their only foe to look out for, especially at night.

Night—when all the foulest sorts of creatures left their holes and darkened crannies to prowl unseen, orcs and goblins, and trolls and wargs, and some things so wretched that it is best they stay unnamed—night in the Grey Mountains, veiled from stars or even the light of the moon, belonged to them.

Legolas helped Thaliniel onto her horse and locked eyes with her. "Stay close," he said and squeezed her hand reassuringly before mounting his own horse and catching up with the other elves.

Thaliniel shook her head as she picked up her pace. As if he even had to ask!

* * *

Author's note: Thank you for reading! Please review!

What will happen in the next chapter as darkness falls over the Withered Heath, the last breeding ground of the great worms?! Will Legolas finally find his courage-to kiss Thaliniel?! Time for some serious peril? Will Elladan ever get punched? LOL! and who knows what Thranduil will do in Dale?


	17. Descent

**A BIG Thank You To all my readers who reviewed the last chapter (and we're about to hit 200-woot!): **

**FeC: Yay! New Reader! *Celebrates!* and thank you for the love for Buidling Ithilien. I am glad you are feeling this characterization of Legolas, which is, of course, completely different from Building Ithilien, in which he's a seasoned veteran and so sure of himself. **

**sazza-da-vampire: Don't worry-no dragon pets will be occurring in this story. Some middle earth creatures are just not cut out to be pets!**

**Larisya: Loved all your reviews, and I'm glad to have you on board! I can't wait to hear from you again! Would that make you an 'approachee'? ha ha.**

**2 lazy 2 login: But not too lazy to review! and I'm glad you did. An all CAPS message always feels good! ;)**

**Sapphire Jade Eyes: Yay! more All Caps! Hey-the feeling is mutual.**

**bntjammer: Always glad to hear from you! and I hurried up on this update just for you!**

**Tierney Greyleaf: Don't worry-Legolas wants you to know that Elladan will get what's coming to him...eventually. *evil grin***

**LegolasGreenleafLove: Legolas wishes to inform you that he has PLENTY of courage, and if he wanted to kiss her he would...except that the timing just hasn't been right. And he wishes he had some breath mints.**

**Justwritingforfun: I added an extra dash of peril in this chapter, just for you! But there will be no baby dragon cuddling, I fear. Dragons are not to be cuddled! At any time!-According to Elladan who hates them with a purple passion.**

**LadyThunderstorm: Thanks for reviewing. Hey, I've been thinking about the possibility of a soon-to-be smooch. The thing is-Legolas is a big chicken and has not been cooperative in the slightest. *Legolas gives Raider-K an elven death glare.***

**Leafblossom: Thank you for reviewing. I always feel proud when my story can make someone fall out of their chair! LOL! Your review made me super glad I kept writing this story!**

**flyingcheese341: Elves get on my nerves too. So dang overly perfect and sort of supercilious. They all kind of come across as smug, snotty know it alls-and its easy to see why some of the other races (dwarves, for example) don't exactly get along with them. With this being said, I also totally love them-and their sense of goodness and passion for beauty. **

**Charmelaucium: Hey-Glad to hear you laughing at the last chapter-which was pretty silly, I admit. I am now going to balance out the silliness with some serious peril. Muah ha ha!**

**Arwegornandfeowyn: Hey, my pleasure-and that line was a perfect fit. Yes, and those Rivendell elves are sort of condescending, aren't they? To coin a phrase from the Godfather, they made Legolas "an offer he couldn't refuse..."**

**Nemaloppe: Oh, I'm so glad you're enjoying the story so far and I hope to hear from you again-but Elladan wants you to know that even baby dragons are dangerous. And make extremely bad pets. Elrond would never let him have one as a child.**

**floweringbirdies: Hey, I love cheese! I mean, this whole story is sort of one big chunk of it, don't you think? But don't worry-I have a grand master plan (at least for the next two pages or so) of how this will unfold. Sort of making it up as I go!-but hey, that's the fun of it! I have NEVER been able to just sit down and plan point by point what happens in a story. I start with one idea of how it starts and have a general idea of how I would like it to end-and everything in the middle is guess work from page to page! (Gee, I hope that confession doesn't ruin the magic for some of you!)**

**Merry: Glad to hear from you again! I hope Pippin's not keeping you too busy with mischief in the Shire. **

**SleepyHollow 5: Always glad to hear from you! And gee! You reviewed this thing lightning fast-like seconds after I uploaded. It was magical.**

* * *

Chapter 17: Descent

True to Elrohir's word, they reached the foothills of the Grey Mountains just as the sun began to sink in the west, leaving long shadows stretched across their path, which became increasingly steep and strewn with heavy boulders. Lurched between the jagged peaks of the Grey Mountains, the valley known as the Withered Heath certainly met expectations—as if all semblance of life had shriveled and died, leaving behind a deadened landscape that Legolas found both grim and other-worldly. Legolas marveled at the wind-twisted trees, gnarled and blackened, their bases thick with tangled, dried out briars. Soon the worn down footpath faded into dust and the elves' procession slowed to a stop in the shadows.

Elladan summoned the others as he produced several thick looking pieces of parchment from his bag. Once everybody had convened and he was sure of their undivided attention, he explained his plan: "These are maps of the area," he said, carefully unrolling one to show it to the group. "The Great Worms only journey here to breed once every thousand years. Many hundreds of years ago, Lord Glorfindel made this journey and destroyed many nests; when he returned to Rivendell, he mapped out the area and the location of the nests with the help of my father. I made copies so each group would have one. "

Elrohir joined in. "We have divided the area into three sections, so we can scour the valley and caves while covering as much ground as possible. Elladan will go with Legolas and Thaliniel. I will go with Selaer—and Belduil, Nalgir, and Galanor will form the last group. We will reconvene here in a day's time."

The three groups broke apart and quickly began to assemble their weaponry and supplies necessary for their task. No campfires were made, and all the horses were turned loose. Elladan approached Thaliniel and Legolas with a grim smile, and presented the maiden with a wickedly sharp-looking blade, a short sword of elven make.

"I can hardly let you go with us unarmed, my lady; we brought as many weapons as we could," Elladan said, offering the weapon to her, which Thaliniel picked up cautiously.

She exchanged a doubtful look with Legolas and gave her new blade a timid practice swing. "I suppose I will finally have some more exciting bedtime tales for Narylfiel after this." Thaliniel guessed that staying behind with the wagon was not an option.

"Let us hope you may never have need to use it," Legolas said to her quietly. "And it figures we would get stuck in the group with Lord 'know-it-all' Elladan."

Thaliniel suppressed her urge to chuckle, and if Elladan heard the prince's remark, he pretended not to. Soon thereafter, they left the opening in the mountains and proceeded down into the valley, where gloomy shadows deepened into a dark pool.

"Stay close now," advised Elladan as he handed the map to Legolas. "We will not wish to be separated on our intended path, so I can ensure that no harm will come to you."

Legolas bristled at the remark as he tucked the parchment into his vest. As if he required special protection!

They followed him into a blackened ravine, where the rock walls steepened and closed around them, and Elladan searched for a small opening—a crack in the rock face that served as the closest entrance to the labyrinthine caverns within the mountainside. The still air around them grew cold and dank, and Legolas thoughtfully moved to the rear of their line, so that Thaliniel would be sandwiched between the two warriors.

"I think I see the entrance, or feel it rather!" Thaliniel exclaimed in a hushed whisper. "I felt a warm breeze just now on the side of my neck—where there could not possibly be any source of a draft."

"Unless there was a cave!" surmised Elladan, and the elf quickly reached into his bag and pulled out a milky white stone which brightened in the darkness and gave forth a dull beam of light, but bright enough to illuminate a circle around the elves' surroundings.

"What is that?" Legolas asked, for he had seen many stones and treasures in his father's vault, but none of this ilk.

Elladan rummaged in his bag and pulled out a second similar shard, mounted on a small hilt and handed it to Legolas. "I am sorry that I only have one extra to share. These are moonstones, said to have been bathed in the light of Telperion, the silver tree of Valinor—now given to us from Galadriel to aid in our quest—that they might be a light in dark places!"

Both Legolas and Thaliniel marveled at the stone, and he thankfully tucked it into his belt while Elladan shone his carefully along the rock wall, his fingers outstretched to find the source of Thaliniel's draft. Only moments later, he cut away some tattered remnants of long-dead vines, and there it was—a crack scarcely big enough for a grown elf to squeeze through.

Elladan shone his moonstone into the door and peered into the hole, then in a wink, he stepped inside and was lost to the darkness.

Thaliniel hesitated at the entrance, looking back at her protector for reassurance. "How do the dragons get in here to lay their eggs if the door is so tiny?" wondered Thaliniel out loud in a curious whisper.

Elladan's head popped back through the hole, which startled Thaliniel, making her jump. "There are much bigger cave entrances closer to the peak, or so Glorfindel claims," clarified Elladan, who really loved to share his wealth of knowledge. "He found this little door quite by accident." He then took her hand and led her inside the mouth of the cave, leaving Legolas quite alone in the ravine.

"Quite by accident, huh?" Legolas muttered to himself. "I should think Glorfindel would not have had much time for exploring and would have left as soon as possible." Wondering, not for the last time, if he would regret joining these elves on such a foolhardy mission, Legolas gritted his teeth and walked into the inky black cave. He certainly was not going to wait for Elladan to extend his hand to hold!

Elladan and Thaliniel waited off to the side, and Legolas could see from the moonstone's slight beam that they had entered into smallish passage. Of course, Elladan could not resist answering the prince's earlier question about how Glorfindel found the cave and told him that the elven lord was being chased by goblins at the time. "They chased him all though the mountain, and then he ducked into this corridor and found that small exit. I think he must have had to hold his breath in order to fit through!"

But Elladan's charming anecdote was completely lost on Thaliniel. "Goblins, you say?" she said, her voice shaky.

"Shh," comforted Legolas, who promptly gave Elladan a very nasty look, "I'm sure we won't run into any."

As the elves well knew, not all mountain caves are created equally. While some caves are pleasant enough and dry, with amusing rock formations, other caverns boast more beautiful veins of gems and gold still; however, the caverns beneath the Grey Mountains unfortunately were the very worst kind. For inside these caves, the air was hot, humid, and musty, and the walls slick and oozy from dripping mineral deposits.

Now unbeknownst even to Elladan who prided himself in his clever study of maps, the Grey Mountains sat upon a very thin crust of earth, underneath which was a hot bed of molten rock and flame; and the heat from this running river of lava beneath the mountain rose up from the deepest roots where fissures bubbled in the rock and the dripping water turned to steam and rose up like hot dragon's breath. This phenomenon, of course, was the singular draw of the Withered Heath for the dragons—the hot, dark caves offered the perfect place to hatch their young.

Even Elladan started to look a little concerned about the rising heat as they moved farther and deeper into the network of caves while faithfully following his map. He knew they were getting close to the first group of nests, but had no answer or academic reason for the uncomfortably rising temperature.

Suddenly he stilled and tucked his moonstone away. "I can see the first nests," he said grimly, his face slick from the steam rising up from nearby vents.

Thaliniel paused. "Does it seem wrong—killing baby animals before they can even hatch?" she asked Legolas quietly.

"Baby animals—yes," Legolas confirmed. "Dragons—no, for I have read far too many bitter tales of their malice and cunning, of their appetite for destruction and death."

And even in his soft whisper, Thaliniel could sense the prince's steely determination that this act must be done. At least in one way, he agreed with Elladan whole-heartedly. Still the notion of stomping on enormous eggs did not appeal to her in the slightest, and she elected not to participate, but rather wait for them on the other side of a rocky outcropping.

The two elves struck silently, and in between hisses from the columns of steam rising from the cracks in the rocks, Thaliniel could hear the rustle of quiet elven feet and the cold snick of metal scraping against the rock.

Elladan reappeared triumphantly. "We just crushed 17 eggs, Thaliniel. When you think about the damage that one of these cold-drakes might have wrought over his lifetime—"

She nodded. "Where is Legolas?"

"Finishing the last nest," answered Elladan, and he turned to check on the prince, disappearing once again into the steam, leaving Thaliniel to clutch the moonstone, which Legolas had left with her, thankful for the small circle of light. She heard a scuffle again, only this time accompanied by the tell-tale grate of metal against metal, like a sword being drawn from its scabbard. Thaliniel tucked her moonstone into her pocket and reached for her knife.

The cavern had become deathly silent, save for the occasional hiss of steam from the vents, and for some reason her better instincts warned her against calling out for Legolas or Elladan.

Very carefully, she rose from the rocky ledge where she had rested earlier. It took every ounce of her resolve to move forward into that chamber, where the steam rose and whistled like a teakettle. She crept along the wall, using it as a guide, and the inside of the cavern opened up to be much bigger than she had anticipated, rising up to a tall ceiling, and settled in between the sharp formations of stone were several large nests, wherein Thaliniel could just barely make out the spilled traces of ruined eggs.

Thaliniel shuddered, and the cold revulsion stealing over her had nothing to do with the nests, but the fact that she had reached the end of the cavern. Neither Elladan nor Legolas were anywhere to be found.

She was utterly alone.

* * *

Uh oh! What has happened to our favorite prince and 'know-it-all' Elladan? *evil chuckle* Your guess is as good as mine... No, I mean it. I don't know where they are. I guess we'll have to wait and see! This chapter was drenched in adventure-sauce (was I too heavy-handed?), and who knows what's around the corner in those caves? Anything could happen! I know some of you have a hankering for our two friends to kiss...


	18. A Dead End

**A BIG thank you to all my readers who reviewed:**

**Floweringbirdies: Hey—all of your ideas are winners in my book—sometimes eerily close to what I had in mind…**

**Merry: Perhaps they did—there is no telling what could be lurking down there!**

**Sapphire Jade Eyes: I have heard your plea for early update and this is for YOU!**

**Charmelaucium: I know it was a cruel cliffhanger, but maybe you'll forgive me after this chapter. **

**Tierney Greyleaf: Oh, no! I couldn't be responsible for keeping you up at night—I had to hurry up and write this next chapter!**

**Flyingcheese143: Poor Thaliniel doesn't want to smooch the wall! It's probably all slimy—and doesn't have beautiful blue eyes or a hot bod…she'll just have to wait for the right moment.**

**Bntjammer: It is sort of like a volcano, isn't it? The geysers and steam vents at Yellowstone AND Carlsbad Cavern were sort of my inspiration for the Withered Heath.**

**Justwritingforfun: I really, really liked your idea about someone falling through the floor. (Might just have to use that one!)**

**Legolasgreenleaf14: Yay! New reader! *Does happy dance!* Hey, I'm so glad you reviewed, and we welcome your insanity! ;)**

**LegolasGreenleafLove: If only there was a way for me to work in an actual breath mint scene into the story—I would SO do it! LOL!**

**Sazza-da-vampire: Thaliniel's definitely going to have to take matters into her own hands. At least she has a sword now!**

**SleepyHollow 5: I felt really bad about leaving it at such a cliffhanger *evil grin* -sort of! You know how I love a good cliff hanger. More peril to come in this chapter! Sadly, there will be no time for smooching…or will there? **

**Arwegornandfeowyn: You are absolutely right—Narylfiel really is sort of the catalyst for this whole adventure. She may need to be grounded! (or if things work out well, then maybe rewarded!)**

**Petkt: I have heard your plea for the quick update!**

**LadyThunderstorm: You know, if you like dragons so much—then you should read my other story—Building Ithilien. It might just have a dragon in it… ;)**

* * *

Chapter 18: A Dead End

With white-knuckle intensity, Thaliniel gripped the hilt of her thin elven blade as she inched her way past the columns of steam in the cavern, searching futilely for any sign of Legolas or Elladan. She could make out what appeared to be some light footprints across the dusty floor of the cave, but she was no tracker and hardly knew what to make of them.

Suddenly, she stilled, her body rendered immobile by the worst imaginable sound—a solitary screech, followed by another, then another, until a rising cacophony filled the tunnels and echoed through the cavern.

Goblins.

All she could think of was an illustrated storybook of Narylfiel's which had a picture of a goblin with cruel yellow eyes and sharp, wicked teeth. In that particular story, the handsome elven hero saved his lady love from the goblins' attack, but here in the present, Thaliniel was very much alone without hero or prince to save her.

She would just have to save herself.

The horrible screeching racket grew louder, and Thaliniel catapulted herself across the cavern to the corridor farthest away from the sound of the goblins. Still clutching her elven blade, she flew through the darkened tunnels as quickly as her feet could carry her, not daring to pull out the moonstone for fear of attracting unwanted attention to herself.

She darted across an open intersection and collided with a creature barreling across from the other corridor. The force of the blow knocked Thaliniel and her sword clattering to the ground. In the inky dark, she groped quickly for her weapon, her ears picking up a low groan and sounds of movement from whatever she had just run into.

At last! Her fingers brushed the cold steel of the blade. Thaliniel deftly felt down the side to the hilt, but before she could grasp it, her enemy grabbed her wrist and forced it from her hand.

Thaliniel gasped at the pain caused by its grip, and then quite unexpectedly her assailant let go.

"Thaliniel, is that you?" Legolas' voice pierced the darkness, his surprise evident. "I thought you were a goblin!"

Thaliniel did not even have a chance to reply, for Legolas grabbed a hold of her again, forcing her up from the ground and then handing her back her sword with a warning not to drop it again. Before she could scarcely draw her next breath, he had firmly gripped her by the hand and was pulling her back down through the tunnels at a dead sprint.

Even so, the cries of the goblins grew louder, and from time to time, Thaliniel could see the flickering glow of their torches lighting up the dark spaces behind them.

At last, and it was bound to happen eventually, for goblin caves are meant to be tricky mazes, Legolas and Thaliniel reached the end of their tunnel, only to find a jagged wall.

Thaliniel swallowed hard as her hands moved frantically across the closed off end of the corridor—a dead end. She tried hard not to dwell on the implications of that unfortunate wording. "This is it," she said at last. "We're trapped, aren't we?"

Legolas turned from the opposite wall where he had just been conducting the same search. "No—no, of course not," he assured her. "We'll get past them," he said, but his voice was not nearly so confident sounding as he hoped, especially after noticing the fine mist gathering in the corner of her eyes.

Wordlessly, he gathered her into his arms to comfort her, to draw on her soft warmth, her scent, the curve of her body next to his for some comfort of his own, and somehow his mouth gently found hers, and Legolas kissed Thaliniel, kissed her as if it were the only right thing to do in that moment—his lips on hers, and for every slow thrum of his heart as time seemed to wind down, his mouth moved gently against her own, feeling beat for beat the way her hair curled against his hand, and the surprised intake of her breath, and how she pulled him even closer by wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and shoulders.

The shrieks of the goblins grew even louder. Reluctantly, Legolas pulled away from her, tucking the moonstone into his vest to leave them in total darkness. Very carefully, he guided Thaliniel between a narrow crawl space in the rocks.

"No matter what happens, Thaliniel," he said huskily. "Once the goblins clear the pass," referring to the intersection of corridors behind them, "you run. Run and get out of these caves. Find the other elves." Legolas slipped her the moonstone and then quietly turned away from her.

He felt her small hand on his shoulder.

"I can't just leave you," she confessed quietly.

"Yes, you can," he assured her as the howls and sound of running feet grew closer. "Protector, remember?" Legolas found her hand on his shoulder and brought it to his lips. Then he turned from her, carefully unsheathing his long, white knives. Legolas found a hiding place of his own, where he could spring out easily to surprise his enemies, determined to kill as many as he could, to fight as long as possible in order to give Thaliniel her chance for escape.

Then they came—a horde of goblins, some with torches, others with cruel looking knives or blades, all screeching, shrieking, crawling, some sniffing like hounds, and Legolas threw himself into writhing mass of dark flesh right after they crossed past Thaliniel's hiding spot.

He knew this was a fight he could not win, but Legolas vowed to take down as many enemies as he could, to prolong the inevitable as long as possible.

Thaliniel ran for her life. She looked back—she knew she shouldn't have, but she just had to see Legolas one last time. Later, she would wish that she had never looked, for her eyes beheld Legolas, made golden and fierce in the goblins' torchlight, as he carved his way desperately toward her, only to be struck down by the sheer numbers of his enemy.

For a second, his eyes met hers, telling her to go. She swallowed a sob and then kept running.

* * *

Okay, so finally we have a first kiss! What did you think about that? … and another cliffhanger—seems like Legolas' time in the caves is quickly going from bad to worse! And where is Elladan? I predict full-out insanity writing the next chapter- Too much peril? Not feeling the mushy love stuff? so let me know what you're thinking about!


	19. Deadly Intent

**A BIG thank you to everyone who reviewed Chapter 18:**

**Yavanna and Sunstar: *Releases the elven confetti* Hurray! A New Reader! - Thank you! I really enjoyed reading your responses to all the chapters! Great insight, and I appreciated the feedback!**

**Charmelaucium: I am SO glad to hear that you enjoyed the kiss scene! and sorry about the cliff hanger. That was definitely one of the worst ones I've ever done! **

**FebruarySong: Thank you for all the great reviews- Your comment about the story reminding you somehow of "Sense and Sensibility" cracked me up, but was also high praise. I am a big Austen fan.  
**

**2 lazy 2 login: I'm so glad that you weren't 2 lazy 2 review! LOL! I'm really glad that you liked the kiss! Maybe there will be some more coming soon!**

**EzmeetheHedgehog: Your question about when the story takes place is an excellent one. Legolas is undoubtedly younger than Elladan and Elrohir, but unlike ALL of the other characters in the Fellowship, Tolkien never decisively gave Legolas a birth year. Poor guy. I made a timeline for you! I'll paste it at the end of this chapter. **

**Concha: Thank you for leaving such a nice long note in your review! I loved hearing what you had to say. As for the length of the story (and I have historically been a terrible judge at these things –like I estimated that my first story Building Ithilien was going to be 10 chapters. It ended up being 55 chapters… Doh!) I feel like "Wanderlust is right in the middle of the story with this chapter. I am 'guesstimating' that the story will finish up around 30ish chapters. **

**Iluvlegolas: Thank you for reviewing! I am adding even MORE peril to this next chapter! So get ready!**

**W33MU: *blushes* Your review made my day! No, seriously. It did. **

**Sazza-da-vampire: I liked your idea about the miraculous escape, and you'll just have to see what happens next…!**

**Tierney Greyleaf: that Elladan! You'll see what happened to him in this chapter…**

**Merry: I know, right? Total chaos.**

**LegolasGreenleafLove: No breath mints, but maybe being in the dark helped Legolas overcome his shyness. That and a sense of total desperation that they were about to die… poor guy!**

**Justwritingforfun: I solemnly swear that this chapter will NOT end in a cliffhanger… much. Hey-I am a big fan of trying to create 'images' in my stories, sort of like "stand-out moments," so I really appreciated the fact that you wrote that you liked the image of Legolas fighting off the goblins in a golden haze. That had me doing a happy dance!**

**Flyingcheese 143: I'm sorry to be playing with your emotions like that! The last chapter was a total rollercoaster—up and then down! This chapter will be strictly down, I'm afraid…**

**Arwegornandfeowyn: More peril to come with this new chapter! And I think that my production on chapters is about to slow WAY down with the start of the new school year. Boo. But I'm still trying to shoot for once a week updates. We'll see how that goes.**

**LadyThunderstorm: You know Legolas isn't going to die! But he might suffer. A lot.**

**SleepyHollow 5: I'm glad you're feeling the cuteness! But we can't have the story get too sugary sweet…so I added this new chapter. *evil chuckle***

**Legolasgreenleaf14: Whoa! Your review went even darker than my actual imagined story line (and that's saying a lot!) Legolas won't die! He has to join the Fellowship of the Ring later! There will be no character death in this story! Okay, let me amend that—there will be no death of canon characters in this story. **

**Bntjammer: I am a BIG fan of Last hope kisses! Thank you for reviewing.**

**Floweringbirdies: Your psychic powers continue to amaze me… **

**Aranel Merenath: Too much peril? But we can't just let everything happen too easily for Legolas… He needs to struggle a little. Or a lot.**

**Petkt: I loved that you looked up 'cacophony.' My inner English teacher rejoiced. How about this one—"Wanderlust" is a **_**Bildungsroman—**_**the technical term for a coming of age story.**

**Sapphire Jade Eyes: Yes! *fist pump* I know I'm doing something right when I can elicit an all CAPS review with one of my chapters!**

* * *

_"He was as tall as a young tree, lithe, immensely strong, able swiftly to draw a great war-bow and shoot down a Nazgûl, endowed with the tremendous vitality of Elvish bodies, so hard and resistant to hurt that he went only in light shoes over rock or through snow, the most tireless of all the Fellowship."_

—J.R.R. Tolkien on Legolas (_Book of Lost Tales_ 333)

Chapter 19: Deadly Intent

Legolas watched Thaliniel turn and run, but dread quickly replaced any relief felt at her escape. The goblins overcame him from every angle—biting, scratching, grabbing, howling. They quickly stripped his weapons away and bound his hands, and one of the goblins, a leader Legolas supposed, issued a warning to the others that he was not to be killed or spoiled.

Then they pushed him forward, none too kindly, forcing him back down the passages at a running, stumbling pace. Even though being held prisoner by the goblins was pretty much the worst possible outcome and more or less a death sentence in itself, Legolas saw no trace of Thaliniel while en route, and this knowledge lightened his heart. Not all was hopeless.

Down, down, down, deep into the mountain they traveled. Legolas' goblin captors hurried him down the halls—pushing, prodding, pulling him along—until they forced him into a much grander chamber ablaze with a slew of torches and made loud by the raucous calls of many goblins gawking in clumps along the walls. In front of them all on a raised platform sat one singularly ugly goblin, who now eyed his latest prisoner with fierce contempt.

The goblins gleefully thrust Legolas forward, and he noticed then that he was not their only prisoner. Elladan, bloodied and haggard, also stood beside him as well as three of the other elves: Selaer, Galanor, and Belduil.

"Legolas," murmured Elladan apologetically. "I was so hoping after the goblins got the drop on me in the caves that you and—" he paused, not daring to say her name out loud, "managed to escape."

Legolas nodded once in confirmation. Then the goblins roared their delight once more, for guards brought forth another prisoner. Legolas' heart clenched painfully at the thought that it might be Thaliniel, but instead it was Elrohir, who smiled grimly at his twin as the goblins dragged him forward. Covered with filth and the dark blood of countless goblins, Elrohir had clearly put up a fight, and his captors shoved him into the line next to the prince.

"Elf spies!" hissed the goblin on the platform, for he was chief among all the goblins of the Grey Mountains and known as the Grand Goblin.

"We found them sneaking in our tunnels, O majestic one!" cried one of the drivers who possessed all the self-importance of having in his possession a long hide whip.

"What business do elves have in the Grey Mountains?" said the Grand Goblin, his eyes narrowing at Legolas in particular, whose golden hair stood out from among the others. Goblins have never had an amiable history with elves. The capture of six such enemies was quite a coup, and the Grand Goblin was already hatching nasty plans for torture and ruination or perhaps even for possible ransom, for goblins dearly love gold and treasure if they can get their greedy hands on it.

Elladan took a small step forward and dared to meet the hostile gaze of the Grand Goblin. "We are but simple traders who sought shelter in your pleasant caves."

"Lies!" shrieked the other goblins. One of them pointed a sharp finger at Elladan. "We caught this one destroying the dragons' nests!"

The Grand Goblin howled with rage and bared his teeth. "Murderous elves! Spies and thieves!" he roared. "Those eggs were to be ours!" He glared at the prisoners and then turned just as ferociously to his goblin guards. "How many were destroyed?" he snapped.

"All of them, O vicious leader!" one of the guards squeaked. "We've sent runners to all the caves and so far every egg has been crushed!"

At this news, the Grand Goblin's wrath was great. "War!" he shrieked. "Hateful elves! Bang the goblin drums! Summon the wargs! May death take you all!"

Then one goblin scrambled in before the Grand Goblin and in his hands, he held aloft a single dark egg, the shell a brilliant crimson. "Master, master!" he cried, "This egg is yet unspoiled!" He carefully brought it to the Grand Goblin, who handed it off to another one of his lackeys with assurances that the egg be carefully watched at all times.

"Crush my dragon eggs, will you?" He cackled fiendishly with a sharp eye on his elven prisoners. "With the fire drake from this one egg, I will lay all your realms to dust and ash, and claim your treasures for goblin-kind!" Of course, the Grand Goblin's plans were little more than delusions of grandeur, for how can a goblin bend a dragon to his will? At the time, however, the Grand Goblin was full of hate and anger toward the elves, and he overlooked this possibility. Truly, the dragon from that egg would one day darken the skies over Middle Earth with terrible consequences, but that story belongs to another adventure tale altogether.

Now the goblins all howled together, a terrifying racket, and a commotion broke out at the end of the large chamber where many of the goblins mobbed together, pressing in with their bodies, thrusting their wretched heads to get a better glimpse of the action. Then the goblin drivers cracked their whips, separating the crowd, and with a terrible light gleaming in his cruel eyes, the Grand Goblin wickedly rubbed his hands together.

Legolas strained to catch a glimpse, and with every known prayer to the Valar running through his head, prayed that it would not be her. Not Thaliniel.

The goblin guards dumped the prisoner on the ground before the Grand Goblin. "We caught this one trying to sneak out the back door!"

The prince's stomach lurched into a miserable knot.

Defiant and dusty, Thaliniel picked herself up off the floor and straightened her tunic.

The Grand Goblin cackled his delight. "Oh, well done! Well done!" He spied the dismay written across the male companions' faces. "Oh, you don't like that, do you?" he sneered at his prisoners and rose from his rock-hewn seat to come and stand before her.

"All you elves look the same," he tsked, "but I can tell that this is one of your females. I can smell it on her… and the fear." The Grand Goblin locked eyes with Legolas.

The prince was not being nearly so successful as the other elves at masking his emotions; anguish had darkened his eyes.

With a cruel grin at the blond elf, the grand goblin snatched up Thaliniel's arm and then sniffed all the way from her shoulder to her hand. He looked appraisingly at the horde of goblins before him and then suggestively ran a single claw down the front of her tunic. "This one's ripe for spoiling, boys!"

He chortled merrily, and a riotous din arose from all the goblins—hooting, shrieks, the stamping of a hundred wretched feet, and many a cat-call with suggestive ways to defile the elf maiden.

The Grand Goblin leered at his prisoners. "Don't look so glum, elf!" he taunted Legolas, "We'll let you watch!" Then he pulled her toward him, and Legolas could no longer hear the terrible roar of shouting all around him or Thaliniel's whimper as two guards held her still as the Grand Goblin began to paw at her tunic—all the prince could hear was a dull pounding in his ears, telling him to do something, anything to save her, no matter the cost.

Legolas' control snapped. He sprang forward, knocking over one of the guards and snapping the bonds from his hands as he wrenched the goblin's sword away and cleaved off his head in the next second. Legolas really meant to kill the Grand Goblin, but instead settled for the two guards. None of the spectators noticed Elrohir dart forward and snatch up his bag during the confusion; all the goblins were too focused on the lurid trail of destruction wreaked by Legolas—before they could stop him he had beheaded two more goblins, mortally wounded another, and had inflicted a nasty slash across the Grand Goblin's arm.

Legolas pulled Thaliniel into his arms as if to shield her, but this only lasted a second before the goblin drivers with their cruel whips were upon him, pulling him away from her, forcing him down upon his knees in front of the Grand Goblin.

The foul creature's wrath was great indeed; he glared at the elf who had bloodied his throne room.

"This one wants to die," the Grand Goblin said flatly, summoning his executioner, an ancient looking goblin who yanked Legolas' hair aside and brandished a cruel blade next to his throat.

"You want death, elf? I will give it to you," he purred, "but not before you watch me break this elf wench before your eyes, listening to her cries and knowing that you could not save her." The Grand Goblin finished with a low, satisfied growl and shoved Thaliniel to the ground, right before the prince.

Now later on, exact accounts of what happened next would become extremely embellished and not a little garbled from the truth. Just as this story was about to take a truly dreadful direction, something wholly unexpected took place. Elrohir had been fishing desperately for something in his small knapsack while all the goblins' attention had been focused on the prince. Just as the executioner's blade warningly pressed into Legolas' neck, Elrohir triumphantly retrieved what looked like a small round candy wrapped in bright blue paper.

When Thaliniel crashed to the ground in front of her prince, Elrohir reared back and hurled the blue sphere into the center of the chamber. The loudest cracking and snapping sounds ever to echo through the Grey Mountains exploded in a brilliant flash of pure white light which had all the goblins falling to their knees and pawing at their eyes. Just as quick and as fierce as lightning , the bright light vanished, plunging the room into darkness. The flames from goblins' torches guttered and died, stolen away by the ferocity of the blast, and the elves used the confusion to great advantage.

Elladan sprang toward their piled up weapons, elbowing the prostrated goblin drivers out of his way, so he could quickly toss weapons to his companions' waiting hands. Meanwhile, Legolas broke away from the executioner's grasp, for his elven strength was no match for any of the guards. He shouted to Elladan and swiftly caught one of his long white knives in his hand. The next minute the Grand Goblin's head rolled off the platform with a satisfying clunk.

"Legolas, help Thaliniel up, and let's go!" called Elrohir, and the elves, working together, fought their way past the goblins and into the tunnels, where they broke into a dead run toward the closest exit.

"Elrohir! What was that?" exclaimed his brother as they steadily gained ground through the twisting corridors.

"Oh, just something I borrowed off of Gandalf!" he shouted back, his voice merry. "I'll have to let him know how well it worked!"

"Borrowed—stolen more likely," scoffed Elladan, but his voice held only great amusement toward his twin.

"Hmmph! Gandalf will be pleased, I'm sure. Might even want to use one of those poppers himself one day. Very hand in a tight spot that little trick is!" Elrohir mused elatedly.

Legolas could not agree more, for even though Gandalf's fireworks had bought them time enough to escape the Grand Goblin's chamber, the rest of the mob had rallied their forces, in a rage now more than ever since the beheading of their leader, and now gave chase to reclaim their prisoners.

"It's this way," shouted Thaliniel in sudden recognition of where they were. "Turn here to go up to the hidden entrance!"

The elves cleared the door and scrambled up through the ravine and back down into the barren landscape of the Withered Heath. At some point, Legolas' hand found Thaliniel's, and they ran together up over the twisted path of rocks and briars.

Then Elrohir glanced back, and the usually sure-footed elf stumbled right in front of them. "Look!" he cried, a semi-horrified expression creeping over his face.

An endless steam of goblins poured out of the mountain behind them.

"There's too many of them! Get to your horses! Quickly! Run!"

In that moment, all might have seemed lost, but then a curious thing happened. The goblin horde slowed their assault and then stopped completely. Elladan, Legolas, and Elrohir exchanged dumb-founded looks, hardly fathoming why their enemy would stop their pursuit until the elves followed the line of sight from the goblins' worried expressions to the high ridge behind them.

A glorious row of elven warriors, grim with gleaming steel and deadly intent, stood sentry along the ridge. Thranduil's royal guards had arrived.

* * *

Ooh! I don't even know what to say. Writing this chapter was exhausting.

There's definitely some concerns/questions for the next chapter. Will Legolas own up to his feelings for Thaliniel? What will Thranduil say? Are we really done with the peril?

I made a timeline, just in case you were wondering where this story might fall within the canon events:

* Third Age (TA) starts with first defeat of Sauron.

TA 130 Elladan and Elrohir are born

TA 1300 the Shadow begins to creep back over Middle Earth as evidence of Sauron's growing power

TA 1909 the Kingdom of the Lonely Mountain (Erebor) is established by the dwarves

TA 2013 Legolas is born (This was my decision for my story. Tolkien never wrote anything specific about LG's birthdate).

TA 2460 Sauron sets up in Dol Guldur

TA 2509 Celebrian sails west

TA 2600 "Wanderlust" takes place.

TA 2746 Thorin is born.

TA 2770 Smaug destroys Dale and takes up residence in the Lonely Mountain.

TA 2941 Thorin's quest (with Bilbo) to reclaim the Lonely Mountain


	20. Killer Instinct

**First, I have to say that I am dreadfully sorry for the delay in updates. As many of you can probably relate-school started again! Hurray! But it also had the negative side effect of taking up all my time and sucking the life out of my creativity... **

**A big Thank You to all my readers who reviewed the last chapter:**

**Annafan: Thank you so much for your review and PM. I've enjoyed your story so much-it's always nice to hear from a fellow legomance author! ;)**

**Miss Les Paul: Well, well, well! I am glad to hear from you, old friend-and I'm super excited to hear that you just caught up with my latest chapter! Yay! Your review gave me the push to finish current chapter.**

**Pergiithshme: Don't be freaked out! (But I'm glad the chapter almost took you over the edge!).**

**Yavanna and Sunstar: Thanks for all your recent reviews-regarding the timeline, the whole Legolas is 2900 years old thing comes from the movies. Peter and Fran made up a birth date-but the actual date is unknown.**

**EzmeetheHedgehog: Good question about Thaliniel's birth year, she's a little younger than Legolas.**

**legolasgreenleaf14: OMG! Don't ever apologize for a late review-that's just being plain silly! And you have to know that Legolas will never allow Thaliniel to get killed or spoiled! **

**Guest: Thanks for reviewing! Arwen's being the last elf born on middle earth is just a common internet myth, and I made up Legolas' birth date to suit the time line of my story, since Tolkien never specified a date.**

**Sapphire Jade Eyes: Ahh, you know that I am always loving the All Caps review! It always brings a smile to my face!**

**sazza-da-vampire: You are so correct about Smaug! That little cameo was just too fun to resist throwing in!**

**Nemaloppe: I'm hoping to bring you a few more Oh Snap! moments in the next few chapters! ;)**

**FebruarySong: In terms of how much longer this story has to go, I think maybe 10 more chapters? Of course, I'm terrible at guestimating these things. I don't have a clear cut plan! eep!**

**petkt: If you think Legolas was nervous in the last chapter with the goblins, just wait until he has to meet up with Thranduil again! Lol!**

**starfire341: Legolas wants you to know that he is a cool, collected elf and nothing like the dam you mentioned in your last review. With that being said, he's a huge ball of nerves and doesn't know what to do with Thaliniel. Okay, he admits the dam metaphor was pretty spot-on.**

**Merry: Good to hear from you again. You are totally correct about the dragon egg being Smaug. It was just my fun little way of throwing in a cameo and a slight nod toward _The Hobbit_!**

**Floweringbirdies: Thank you for all the love-and like you, I am anxiously looking forward to seeing how Thranduil responds to Legolas and Thaliniel!**

**gginsc: Thank you for reviewing! I hope to hear from you again!**

**Trollalalala: I love a protective Legolas too! and I'm pretty sure Thaliniel does too. Who wouldn't, frankly?**

**Tiearney Greyleaf: Oh, yes-Gandalf will be storing that bit of knowledge away for later. Who knows, he might just find it useful when trying to save some dwarves later from a different Great Goblin... LOL!**

**Flyingcheese143: To answer your question-yes, I believe that Wanderlust will be MUCH shorter than Building Ithilien. Of course, I originally just thought that Building Ithilien would only be ten chapters long, so you can see that I'm terrible at guessing how long stories will turn out!**

**Justwritingforfun: I really liked what you wrote in your review in terms of how Thaliniel and Legolas will be getting along with their relationship. It really made me stop and think, which for a writer is always a good thing.**

**Charmelaucium: Thank you for the compliments, Charm! Like you predicted, this story will definitely see a shift from external action to tension of a more interpersonal nature. Thranduil will be tough.**

**arwegornandfeowyn: I really loved your comparison of the group to a bunch of teenagers getting caught by their parents! that just seemed so fitting to me. **

**Aranel Mereneth: You know that I can never let them get out of danger too easily! Of course, there will be more peril! and then Thranduil will be another brand of peril entirely!**

**SleepyHollow5: The dragon egg was Smaug!-just my way of tying this story to future events in The Hobbit. I always like to finagle with the canon events a little in my own stories, either to try to bring in something that has already happened or to explain something that will occur later! **

* * *

Chapter 20: Killer Instinct

Legolas had never been so relieved to see the captain of his father's royal guard than in that moment—as he and his companions escaped from the caves with the fury of all the goblins of the Grey Mountains unleashed behind them. He tugged on Thaliniel's hand to guide her up to the top of the ridge without pause or even to catch their breath until they were safely ensconced on the other side of the elven warriors.

Legolas' eyes brightened to see Beriadan, his father's most trusted Captain and his own training master for many years. "You could not have picked a better time to arrive," he called to the tall, grim faced Captain.

"My prince, it's only the twelve of us. Your father sent us to find you—not to fight off a full scale goblin attack," Beriadan replied, bowing his head in respect to the prince, an act which Legolas had repeatedly reminded him was unnecessary, but he always did regardless.

"Still, you are most welcome," Legolas said as he, Thaliniel, and the Rivendell elves quickly joined the ranks of the guards to find their own horses among them. Apparently Thranduil's guards had collected the horses lower down in the valley and brought them along, all on Beriadan's hunch that a quick getaway might be necessary.

"The goblins may have scared off easily now, but they very well may send warg riders to scout our real numbers. We should not tarry here," Beriadan said authoritatively, summoning all riders to begin their descent from the Withered Heath.

No time was lost as the elves urged their mounts down the rocky terrain as quickly as possible through the steep, boulder-strewn path. Legolas had encouraged Thaliniel to ride toward the front, feeling that she would be safer there, and Legolas took his place near the rear of the vanguard, along side of Beriadan.

The shrill cries of the goblins were lost among the sound of the horses' pounding hooves against the hardened earth, dust, and briars. Legolas had never ridden so fast, and how many times had he dreamed of riding like this next to Beriadan—with the members of his father's Royal Guard? And now, he was among them—him, riding next to some of the most fell warriors in his father's realm, and he felt honored and horrified all at once to be counted in their number—honored to be finally included in their ranks, and slightly wretched that his father sent them to reclaim him, like an errant child.

The horses and riders flew down the mountainside—past the barren landscape and the gnarl of blackened tree limbs tangled against the sky—and then, faintly, ever so quietly, a howl pierced the silence.

Legolas cast a sidelong glance at Beriadan, who caught his eye and gave him an almost smile. "I am pleased to see you in one piece, Prince Legolas," the captain commented.

"Let me just say that the goblins had different plans on that account," the prince quipped, trying not to remember his almost execution before the Grand Goblin.

"Well, we are not out of this yet," Beriadan warned. "Listen!"

At the first truly loud howl behind them, Legolas peered behind him, but the night was still dark enough that he could see very little. As the howls grew louder and more frequent, however, he also began to mark the sound of heavy footfalls padding behind them and growing closer.

"They are gaining on us!" another of the guards cried.

"Spread out!" Beriadan called to his warriors. "Ready your weapons."

When Legolas looked back a second time, now he could mark the telltale gleam of eyes, a swarm of yellow flashes pulsing in the dark and lunging straight for their group.

The Mirkwood elves then drew their swords, the ringing peal of metal like a discordant answer to the wolves' cries. Others readied their bows, and Legolas watched as the guards, led by Beriadan, seamlessly turned their horses' paths and guided them toward a headlong collision with the wargs. The Rivendell elves fearlessly followed suit, and the prince of Mirkwood gathered his courage and plowed in to the fray behind them.

Legolas' bow sang as he nimbly guided his horse through the throng of crashing bodies—wargs, goblins, gnashing teeth, and bitter iron swords. When the fight became too close for the use of his bow, he drew his long white knives and carved his way through his enemies. Spinning, slashing, hacking, ducking, and advancing, somehow amid the chaos, Legolas found his rhythm in this deadliest of dances, and even Beriadan, his sword master for many long years, stopped briefly to watch his young protégé wordlessly unleash misery upon every goblin and warg in his path.

Later if pressed to comment on the event, Beriadan would only say that he thought he was watching the King, not the prince. Formerly in his lessons, he would have said that while his student Legolas had all the skill necessary to be a great warrior, he lacked the killer instinct.

Well, he found it, thought Beriadan grimly.

Not long after, all the goblins had perished, and the wargs lay in large steaming clumps in the pale moonlight.

Beriadan met Legolas amid the wake of strewn corpses and clasped him on the shoulder.

"You fought well" was all he would say, but to the prince this was high praise in deed. The captain was none too heavy-handed with the compliments. After Beriadan turned and left, Legolas spun on his heels, almost a little too giddily, and grinned into the night as he joined the elves in the most unpleasant task of piling the dead bodies for burning.

Thaliniel watched all of this with equal amounts of relief and pleasure. She had given the fight with the goblins a wide berth, knowing that she would not be able to contribute much.

Now in the aftermath, Elrohir approached her side, really more to check with her than anything else, make sure she was still all right. He worried for her after the ugly scene with the Grand Goblin, but there she was, a soft smile lighting up her face as she watched Legolas.

"You care for him," Elrohir observed.

"He is an honorable elf," Thaliniel began shyly, "and a good friend."

"I would say more than just a good friend. He was ready to die for you back there," Elrohir pointed out.

Thaliniel's eyes flickered to Elrohir's, and her hand unconsciously drifted to touch her lower lip as she considered his observation. Not that she would _ever _consider telling any of this to Elrohir, but she was fairly certain that she might never live down the scorching heat of that single kiss the prince had bestowed upon her. He kissed her, just once, and Thaliniel would rather hold onto the memory of that one kiss forever than settle for less than what she felt in his arms that night.

It had been all so unexpected, so unlooked for—but every part of her thrilled at the memory.

Of course, Elrohir watched all of this with the certainty of one who has skipped to the last page of a storybook and already read the ending. He was neither surprised, nor taken aback by the young maiden's wistful admiration of her hero.

He stayed with her a few minutes until Elladan joined them, calling his brother's attention away from the maiden. He needed help lifting one of the warg bodies onto the pyre, and despite the distasteful nature of the job, Elrohir was relieved to part from Thaliniel.

Elrohir summarily followed Elladan away, and then when they stopped at the dead body of the warg, he hissed to his brother, "Thaliniel—I think she fancies the prince."

Elladan, kneeling down beside the body, glanced up at his brother's observation. "More like completely smitten," Elladan agreed as he lifted his end of the warg.

"Do you think he realizes?" Elrohir whispered. The brothers hoisted the enormous pile of fur and muscle and steered it toward the already burning fire.

"Who? Legolas? Does it even matter?" asked Elladan archly after they tossed the body onto the pyre. He dusted his hands off. "His father will never approve."

"Poor Thaliniel," concluded Elrohir, frowning. He had become quite fond of the maiden and had no wish for her to be misused.

"She is strong. Thaliniel will get over it," Elladan said and added as an afterthought, "she'll have to."

"Have to what?" inquired Thaliniel, appearing through the smoke on the other side of the fire. "Do not try and pretend that you were not just speaking of me. I heard my name, Elladan."

The twin brothers' faces darkened to identical shades of red, which Thaliniel might have found humorous in other circumstances.

Elladan quickly moved over to the other side of the fire where Thaliniel stood waiting, and Elrohir followed suit, so they both framed her like two concerned and ridiculously handsome bookends. With one brother on each side, they steered her away from the fire, carefully choosing to move her as far from the prince as possible.

Elrohir cleared his throat. "Thaliniel," he began uncomfortably.

She appraised him with a single arched eyebrow.

Elladan stepped in. "Thaliniel, I am sorry that you overheard my brother and I speaking of you. We both have grown to like—and admire—you very much—"

Elrohir cut his brother off. "What Elladan means to say is that we have noticed how much you admire our mutual friend."

"Prince Legolas," supplied Elladan helpfully, to which his brother gave him a scornful look.

"She knows who I meant!" retorted Elrohir.

"Will you two stop?" Thaliniel cried with an impatient wave of her hand. "I believe I know how this conversation ends."

"You do?" Elladan's tone betrayed his surprise.

"As my friends, you are trying to warn me off from the prince, from falling in love with him," she summarized, catching their eyes.

Elladan and Elrohir exchanged an incredibly awkward look as her words, so rightfully true, fell on their ears.

"Well…yes," admitted Elrohir. "We would not want to see you hurt."

Thaliniel nodded slowly, and her voice seemed to catch. "I've already told all of this to myself, several times over," she admitted softly, and Legolas, bright-haired and laughing next to one of the far fires, drew her eye. She swallowed and then looked back at the twins before her.

"I know," she admitted in a small voice, but still she found that her traitorous eyes lingered on him whenever he was near, and the image of him leaping to her defense time and again was a hard one to forget.

So it was with mixed feelings of anticipation and dread that Thaliniel rode by Legolas' side later on during the way back to Dale. The companionable silence which once stretched between them so amicably seemed strained and tense, and neither elf hardly knew what to speak of to the other. Thaliniel miserably dwelled on the fact that her time with Legolas was soon to be cut short once they arrived at Dale, while the prince riding by her side worried about finally reuniting with his father. Truth be told, neither Thaliniel nor Legolas looked forward to reaching their destination.

King Thranduil awaited their arrival.

* * *

Dun-dun-dun! What will the Elven King say?! I cannot wait to write the next chapter, and I'm sure you guys have more than a few good ideas about how it could play out! Please review and let me hear from you!

Now that things have settled down at school, I'm hoping to get the next chapter posted in a much more timely manner!


End file.
